Pak, Chinese presidents meet in Beijing

---

BEIJING, Oct !5 (AFP): Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari met with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao Wednesday as he looks to Islamabad's loyal ally for crucial financial and nuclear energy investments.
Zardari, who landed in Beijing for his first state trip since taking office in September, was welcomed at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, the seat of power in China, by Hu before they went inside for meetings.
The two leaders were to sign agreements as part of a four-day trip that the Pakistani leader has said would focus on economic ties.
The Financial Times newspaper has reported, without citing sources, that Zardari would seek a soft loan of between 500 million and 1.5 billion dollars from China to help cash-strapped Pakistan out of a financial crisis.
Zardari inherited a nearly bankrupt country plagued by huge security problems from Islamic extremists. The global financial crisis has pushed Pakistan closer to the financial brink.
Reports, denied by Islamabad, have said the country faces bankruptcy as early as February.
"We have a lot of cultural ties, friendly ties, but that is not properly depicted by our economic relationship," Zardari told China's official Xinhua news agency before departing Pakistan. "China is the future of the world. A strong China means a strong Pakistan."
Pakistan's ambassador to China, Masood Khan, also said in an interview with Pakistan television station Geo that an agreement on a civilian nuclear pact with China could be reached during the trip.
China's foreign ministry has confirmed the subject would be discussed but gave no specifics.
Any agreement would come after the United States last week signed a deal with Pakistan's rival, India, to open up sales of civilian nuclear technology to New Delhi for the first time in three decades.
Liu Xuecheng, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies, told AFP any such agreement should not raise alarm bells for other countries.