THERE was a time when China was associated in Irish minds with foreign marvels such as kung fu, fireworks and tinned lychees.

DUBLIN-based Treasury Holdings yesterday announced a €1.2 billion joint venture to develop a 900-acre island site off the coast of China.

Sleek, silvery and ready to fly, Shanghai’s 270-mph magnetic-levitation train began its daily commercial operation today, shooting out of its station amid high hopes for better – and much more expensive – commuting.

Chinese and German engineers are rushing to prepare the world’s first ‘floating’ train for a debut run around New Year’s Day.

Vice President Hu Jintao was appointed as leader of China’s Communist Party today, handing him the country’s most powerful position and making him a certain bet to replace Jiang Zemin as president next year.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council remain divided on Iraq, despite US President George Bush’s call for a quick resolution.

The US has moved negotiations on its tough Iraq proposal to the UN, meeting with permanent members of the Security Council opposed to authorising force against Saddam Hussein before testing his willingness to co-operate on the ground.

A British envoy met Chinese officials in Beijing today hoping to build international support for a new UN resolution compelling Iraq to disarm or face military action.

Germany today refused to endorse Tony Blair’s warning about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and said it remains opposed to war, joining France and China in reacting sceptically to a report the United States called “frightening.”

A Trinity College student and Falun Gong practitioner who has been imprisoned in a Chinese labour camp for more than two years will be freed this March, according to the Department for Foreign Affairs.

The South Asian summit where Indian and Pakistani leaders were due to meet today has been postponed until tomorrow because of the delayed arrival of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair today kicked off his tour of south Asia with a warning that the simmering conflict between India and Pakistan could destabilise the whole region and the wider world.

The Chinese Premier has hit out at the portrayal of China in Ireland as a country that violates human rights.

The Chinese Premier has defended his country's record on human rights on the second day of his official visit to Ireland.

The Chinese Premier has agreed to examine the case of a Trinity College

Chinese premier Zhu Rongji will attend a state dinner in Dublin Castle tonight as part of his four-day official visit to Ireland.

Chinese premier Zhu Rongji was greeted by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Dublin Airport today at the start of his four-day official visit to Ireland.

Zhu Rongji, Premier of the People’s Republic of China, will this weekend become the first visiting foreign dignitary to be accommodated at Farmleigh, the Government-owned stately home.

Authorities in central China have sentenced 23 people to prison terms of up to 13 years for a Christmas fire in a disco that killed 309 people, a court official said today.