His visit comes a day after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice departed China having warned time was running out to resolve the stalemate over North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions.

Pak will meet later Tuesday with Premier Wen Jiabao, before meetings with President Hu Jintao on Wednesday where the six-party talks on a nuclear free Korean peninsula are expected to discussed.

He will also travel to the booming metropolis of Shanghai and the northeastern industrial city of Shenyang, where China has been eager to display its successes in market economic reforms.

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