Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao and US president-elect Barack Obama have discussed Taiwan and the global financial crisis by telephone, China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Hu told Obama that bilateral relations could improve if the two sides showed respect for each other's concerns and "properly handle sensitive issues ... particularly the Taiwan issue," the ministry reported on its website.

The ministry quoted Obama as saying late Saturday that resolving the current financial crisis needed the close cooperation of every national government.

Obama said he hoped that China and the United States would strengthen cooperation at the international summit on the financial crisis and the global economy on November 15.

Beijing/ Onboard Air India One, Oct 26: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh met his Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the seventh two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Beijing on Saturday.

Dr. Singh said the Chinese President agreed with him that the two countries would be able to achieve the trade target of 60 billion dollars set for 2010.

Beijing - His name was familiar to US President George W Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao months before he won the EU's Sakharov prize for human rights, yet just a few years ago China's most prominent dissident was a largely unknown activist for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Hu Jia's international reputation grew while he was forced to spend most of his time confined inside his suburban apartment on the outskirts of Beijing in 2006 and 2007.

Before his formal arrest in late December, Hu had spent most of the previous two years under virtual house arrest or other forms of detention.

Beijing  - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari held talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday as the two nations signed economic cooperation agreements covering satellites, trade, mining, agriculture and other sectors.

State media quoted Hu as saying that Zardari's family were "all old friends of the Chinese people" and praising Zardari's late wife, Benazir Bhutto, and her father, Ali Bhutto, for their "outstanding contributions to the opening and development of China-Pakistan relations."

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 - Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W Bush discussed the US financial crisis by telephone on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry said.

Hu told Bush he hoped that US measures to bolster financial markets would soon have an effect and "lead to a gradual recovery," the ministry said on its website.

Recovery of US financial markets was in the interests of China as well as the United States and would benefit the entire global economy, Hu was quoted as saying.