Taipei- Nestle Taiwan agreed on Thursday to refund consumers after 10 more brands of its China-made milk powder were found to contain small traces of the toxic chemical melamine.

"Beginning today, consumers can ask for refund at the sales outlets where they bought the products before November 30, regardless of whether the containers are already opened and whether they still have the payment receipts or not," the company said in a statement.

It also said consumers can choose to replace the old products with new ones supplied from countries outside China by the beginning of November.

Beijing - Riot police beat and detained protestors in southern China's Guangdong province after more than 500 people blocked a main road because of a dispute with local officials, residents and a US-based rights group said on Thursday.

"The farmers who were the leaders of the protest were arrested by the police," one local resident told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by telephone from Guangdong's Sanjiang township.

Another local resident said Sanjiang was "quiet" on Thursday, following the riot on Wednesday.

Beijing - China's health ministry on Thursday raised the number of infants hospitalized for problems linked to the consumption of tainted milk powder to 47,000, with more than 10,000 still under treatment.

A total of 36,144 children were released from hospitals nationwide after treatment for kidney problems and other ailments believed to be linked to melamine-contaminated milk powder, the ministry said on its website.

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San Jose, Costa Rica - Chinese President Hu Jintao is set to visit Costa Rica next month, 17 months after the Central American nation broke 63 years of ties with Taiwan to establish a diplomatic link with Beijing, Costa Rican authorities said Wednesday.

During his November 17 visit, Hu is set to meet with Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, to discuss bilateral ties in the fields of politics, trade and cooperation.

Costa Rican Congress Speaker Francisco Antonio Pacheco told the media that Hu also plans to attend an event in the legislature.

Beijing - China's central bank on Wednesday cut its base interest rates and the reserve ratio for commercial banks, in moves designed to bolster the economy against fallout from the global financial crisis.

Base interest rates for deposits and loans will be reduced by 0.27 percentage points from Thursday, while the required reserve ratio of deposits to loans will be lowered by 0.5 percentage points from October 15, the People's Bank of China announced via state media.