Beijing - Analysts on Monday welcomed China's announcement of a major package of measures to stimulate domestic demand but warned that economic growth was still likely to slow next year.

"While these measures cover a wide range of areas, the clear focus is government-financed or mandated investment and construction," Hong Kong-based economist Tao Wang of UBS Investment Research said in a report to clients.

"Public housing and infrastructure are likely to receive the biggest push," Wang said.

"These public projects will help to boost overall investment sentiment and bring about more bank lending," he said.

Brussels - China should work more closely with the European Union to boost development and stability in Africa, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday said.

Both the EU and China play a growing role in Africa, and "in this new context, it would seem advantageous to coordinate the EU's and China's efforts more closely around priorities which reflect Africa's needs," a statement from the ministers said.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong was facing a severe egg shortage Monday after imports from China were halted because of the discovery of the chemical melamine in some eggs.

Supplies from China are believed to have fallen by 80 per cent in recent weeks after the discovery in October of the same chemical in eggs that caused a nationwide milk scare a month earlier.

With a view to bolster domestic demand and help avert recession, China unveiled a 'massive' economic stimulus program worth over half a trillion dollars. The package, to be spent over two years, is valued at about 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion).

The announced sum represents about 16% of China's economic output last year, and is roughly equal to the total of all central and local government spending in 2006.

Beijing  - Shares on China's main stock market jumped by more than 7 per cent on Monday after the government announced a major package of measures to stimulate domestic demand and buffer the economy against the effects of the global financial crisis.

The key Shanghai Composite Index, which measures shares traded in local and foreign currencies, gained 127.09 points, or 7.27 per cent, to end the day at 1,874.80 points.

Shanghai  - Jo-Wilfried Tsonga blamed clueless ball kids for his opening loss at the Masters Cup, with the petulant French player perhaps finding excuses for his own rookie mistakes on court.

A debutant at the year-end event, the hyper-fit 23-year-old who won the Paris title a week ago said he "lost energy" waiting for hardd-working ball kids to fetch him his towel frequently between points as he went down in Gold group play to Nikolay Davydenko in three sets.

"When I ask for my towel, my towel didn't come," lamented Tsgona, "When I ask for a ball, the ball didn't come. That's it."