Beijing - The death toll rose to 56 in a mudslide that buried a market and other buildings in northern China's Shanxi province, state media said Wednesday.

More than 30 mechanical diggers were aiding several hundred rescue workers who had already searched about 70 per cent of the debris left by Monday's mudslide, the semi-official China News Service said.

The agency said the number of people missing was still under investigation, but one earlier state media report said several hundred people could have been trapped.

London, Sept.

New Delhi, Sept. 9 : A former Indian envoy to Pakistan, G. Parthasarthi, said on Tuesday that all nuclear programms initiated by Pakistan were Chinese in origin.

Speaking at a discussion here, Parthasarathi said: "Pakistan''s nuclear programme was being conducted by the Chinese. "There is no Pakistan nuclear programme. All are Chinese."

Beijing - A range of non-tariff barriers to market access in China reflect a growing "economic nationalism" that is harming the interests of European firms and local consumers, a European Union business group said in a report released Tuesday.

"European companies are generally optimistic about their business in China, but their concerns remain about market access, transparency, intellectual property rights and environmental sustainability," the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China said.

"Economic nationalism appears to be a growing concern," said the chamber's annual "position paper," which was based on a survey of many of its 1,400 members.

Shanghai - The largest show for contemporary art in Asia opened its doors for an expert audience on Tuesday in Shanghai.

ShContemporay, with 150 participating galleries from 20 countries, is the most important of three art shows running this week in the eastern Chinese city.

The other two in the framework of the so-called Art Compass are the Shanghai Biennale, running until Tuesday and the Shanghai Art Fair, which is open until Saturday.

Beijing, Sept. 9: China hopes the waiver of nuclear trade ban against India would be conducive to global cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and non-proliferation.

"China has always advocated that all countries are entitled to the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Monday.

"But, at the same time, international cooperation should help maintain the integrity and validity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime," the China Daily quoted her as saying further.