Trade - a key issue for Europe as China's economy gallops forward - has been at the top of Wen's priority list on his weeklong European visit.

He participated in a summit of Asian and European leaders in Helsinki, Finland, over the weekend and travels to Germany later Wednesday for an economic conference and talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

With NATO generals calling for 2,000 more troops to help subdue Taliban resistance in Afghanistan, Blair said "it is important that the whole of NATO regards this as their responsibility."

"NATO is looking at what further requirements there are and NATO countries have got a duty to respond to that," he added.

Blair said Britain was pulling its weight in Afghanistan, and said success there was crucial for the security of Britain and the world.

Wen said China wanted to see a stable, free Afghanistan as its neighbor and was providing humanitarian aid to help the country rebuild.

Despite new controls Beijing has imposed on foreign news agencies, Wen said China had made no changes to those rules and that its government had been misunderstood.

"The Chinese government will ensure the freedom and rights of the foreign news media" there and hopes international journalists will respect Chinese law, he said.

Regulations released Sunday give the government's Xinhua News Agency control over distribution within China of news, information and other services from foreign agencies. Xinhua said it would delete items deemed to violate national unity or social stability.

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