Hanoi - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung met with Chinese leaders Wednesday in Beijing to discuss borders and seek to strengthen often-strained ties with China, government officials said.

Dung, his wife and a high-ranking government delegation arrived in Beijing Tuesday for his first official visit to China and the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting, which is to be held Friday and Saturday.

Taipei - A senior Chinese official cut short his Taiwan visit and returned to China Wednesday, after he was shoved to the ground by pro-independence activists during a visit to a temple the previous day.

"I feel bad that police have to deploy so much manpower to protect my safety and I don't think I should cause them so much trouble, but the public will tell right from wrong," said Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), at the airport.

Beijing, Oct 22: China has reportedly hailed the opening up of bilateral trade between India and Pakistan through two road routes after 60 years, saying that the two countries would work harder to promote bilateral relations.

“China is a neighbour and friend of both Pakistan and India,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang during a press briefing in Beijing here last evening.

On the occasion, Gang also said that Beijing would continue to co-operate with Pakistan in its endeavour in the civilian nuclear energy field. “I have repeated on many occasions that we have sound co-operation and relations with Pakistan. We would like to continue this co-operation on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.”

Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao spoke to his US counterpart George W Bush, expressing hope that US efforts would help curb the global financial crisis, state media reported Wednesday.

The Chinese leader and Bush also discussed planned international financial summits and ways to strengthen international cooperation to stabilise financial markets in their Tuesday phone call.

Hu hoped that US measures to rein in the crisis "would take effect as soon as possible, restore investor confidence and prevent further expansion of the crisis," Xinhua news agency reported.

"The measures are conducive to the stability of the world economy and financial markets," Hu added, according to Xinhua.

Jakarta - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono left Jakarta on Wednesday morning for Beijing to make a five-day official visit to China, where he will attend the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).

Yudhoyono, accompanied by his wife Ani Yudhoyono, and a number of cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu, State Minister for Environment Rachmat Witoelar and Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro.

Beijing - This week's largest ever gathering of Asian and European leaders was planned to focus on efforts to combat climate change and promote sustainable development, but those efforts now look likely to be overshadowed by the need to respond to the global financial turmoil.

Talks on the financial crisis are expected to be "very intense" between leaders of the 27 European and 16 Asian nations at the seventh biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Beijing, Serge Abou, the EU ambassador to China, told reporters.

"The main thing is to come out with strong and united messages conveying confidence," Herve Ladsous, the French ambassador to China, said of the talks on global finance.