Zardari, on his first state trip since taking office in September, landed in Beijing after making clear in an interview with China's official Xinhua news agency that building economic ties would be his priority on the four-day visit.

"We have a lot of cultural ties, friendly ties, but that is not properly depicted by our economic relationship," he told Xinhua, as he lavished praise on Pakistan's increasingly powerful and prosperous Asian neighbour.

"China is the future of the world. A strong China means a strong Pakistan," Xinhua quoted Zardari as saying.

His comments come as Islamabad's alliance with Washington in the "war on terror" is falling on rocky ground partly because of Pakistan's inability to hunt down Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters based in its tribal belt.

China has long been one of Pakistan's closest political and economic partners, with Beijing looking to Islamabad as a counterbalance to regional rival India.

In an interview with his country's Geo TV on Tuesday, Masood Khan, Pakistan's ambassador in Beijing, hinted that an agreement on a civilian nuclear pact with China could be on the cards during Zardari's trip.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang also indicated that nuclear energy cooperation would be discussed during Zardari's visit, when he will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, but he gave no specifics.

"China and Pakistan share sound cooperation in nuclear energy. China is ready, on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, to continue its cooperation with Pakistan," he said.

Pakistan already has one Chinese-built nuclear power station and another is under construction.

The Financial Times newspaper also reported Tuesday, without citing sources, that Zardari would seek a soft loan of between 500 million and 1.5 billion dollars from China to help Pakistan out of its financial crisis.

Zardari inherited a country on the brink of bankruptcy and plagued by huge security problems from Islamic extremists.

The global financial crisis has pushed Pakistan closer to the financial edge, with reports -- denied by Islamabad -- that it faces bankruptcy as early as February.

China has boosted its economic interests in Pakistan in recent years, funding major infrastructure, engineering and mining projects, including a deep sea port, as well as helping to build the nuclear power plants.

Bilateral trade between China and Pakistan is worth more than seven billion dollars a year and officials from both sides have said they are looking to increase that to 15 billion dollars by 2011.

Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are widely considered to be at the root of its financial problems.

They fell to 8.135 billion dollars this month from 9.129 billion in September, putting Pakistan at risk of defaulting on foreign loans.

Zardari also said in his interview with Xinhua that he would seek to step up co-operation with China in the fight against terrorism.

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