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BEIJING-Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari reached trade deals with China on Wednesday, raising hopes that Beijing would help his country through difficult economic and diplomatic times.Chinese President Hu Jintao and Zardari oversaw the signing of 11 agreements on trade and economic cooperation, agriculture, mining and other areas, but it was unclear whether they included any concessional loans or nuclear cooperation deals.The Financial Times reported that the Pakistani president was seeking $500 million or more in soft loans from its neighbor as it grapples to stem a looming balance of payments crisis. Zardari is wooing Beijing at a time when his country's relations with the United States are strained after U.S. forces in Afghanistan carried out cross-border air raids and at least one ground assault on al Qaeda and Taliban targets in Pakistan.Washington also recently sealed a civilian nuclear deal with India that riled Pakistan. Both New Delhi and Islamabad have developed nuclear weapons to counter each other, but Washington has ruled out a similar deal for Islamabad.Zardari, on his first visit to China as president, made clear commercial ties with Chinese companies were foremost on the Pakistani delegation's agenda, according to Xinhua news agency."I chose China as my first country to visit to say to Chinese companies that I will provide favorable treatment to you," Xinhua quoted Zardari as saying.Hu told the Pakistani leader that his country "attaches high importance to the China-Pakistan relationship and has always made the development of the relationship as one of China's diplomatic priorities," state television reported. To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
