Beijing - Can China save the world from the current financial crisis? To give the answer right away: no.

However, the nation with its more than 1 billion people and its strong economic growth may be able to offset at least some of the effects of the global financial meltdown.

"At the moment China can only save itself and thus be a certain stabilizing factor in Asia," said Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Chamber of Commerce in China.

Taipei - Taiwan and China are likely to hold second round of high-level talks in Taipei on November 3, despite a recent attack of a Chinese envoy by pro-independence activists during his visit to the island, a government source said on Thursday.

The Mainland Affairs Council, the island's top China policy planning body, was expected to hold a news conference at 4 p. m. (0800 GMT) in Taipei to announce that top China negotiator Chen Yunlin would arrive in Taiwan for the talks between November 3 and November 7, the source, who requested to remain anonymous, said.

Beijing - German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in China on Thursday for talks that were expected to focus on the global financial crisis.

Merkel was scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao later in the day before the two leaders join some 40 other heads of state at the biannual Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) on Friday and Saturday.

German officials said the fact that Merkel was one of the few foreign leaders making a formal state visit to China for the ASEM summit showed the importance of ties between the two nations.

She is scheduled to meet President Hu Jintao on Friday.

Two rights groups appealed to Merkel to raise the situation of China's Tibetan and Uighur minorities during her meetings in Beijing.

Beijing, Oct 23 : Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani here on Friday on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit.

The two leaders will meet to review the progress being made to promote bilateral understanding and co-operation to resolve disputes including Kashmir, the Daily Times quoted a senior Pakistani official as telling a foreign news agency.

The two leaders will likely meet at the Great Hall of the People in the afternoon, after the summit’s opening session.

Beijing - Leaders of Asian and European Union nations arrived in China on Thursday ahead of a summit that is expected to be dominated by the global financial crisis.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso arrived in Beijing late Thursday morning, while Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Finnish President Tarja Halonen were among several leaders who held bilateral meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier on Thursday.

The largest ever gathering of Asian and European leaders takes place on Friday and Saturday with 27 European and 16 Asian nations represented.

Beijing - International activist groups urged German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday to raise the issue of Tibet during her visit to China.

"At this critical juncture in relations between Europe and China, Chancellor Merkel must press Chinese President Hu Jintao for tangible results from the dialogue between the Dalai Lama's representatives and Chinese officials," said Kate Saunders of the London-based International Campaign for Tibet.