Pakistan today promised a thorough probe into the killing of a Chinese woman in its restive city of Peshawar, saying the perpetrators would be brought to justice, amid China's call for "credible" security measures for hundreds of its nationals working in the country.

"Every effort will be made to investigate this crime and bring the perpetrators to justice," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement.

The government condemned the killing of the Chinese national "in the strongest terms," he said.

The Pakistan government attaches "high importance to the security and safety of Chinese nationals" in the country, Basit said.

In Beijing, Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan said in a separate statement: "We are thoroughly investigating the incident and will spare no effort to track down the culprits."
Hua Jiang, the 42-year-old Chinese woman, was shot dead with her Pakistani companion, Suleman Shams, in a crowded market of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, yesterday.

The motive behind the murders is yet to be ascertained.

Reports said the Chinese woman was a student of Beijing University and was on a vacation in Peshawar.

Shams, a student of the prestigious Government College in Lahore, was apparently acting as her interpreter.

Both were shot in the face by a gunman who was on foot.

This was the second attack on Chinese nationals in Peshawar in over four years.

Three Chinese men were killed in the city in July 2007.

Chinese Foreign Office spokesman Hong Lei today said in Beijing that his government had taken the incident seriously and called on the Pakistani side to investigate the crime and spare no effort in bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Hong also sought "credible measures" to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and nationals in Pakistan.

"The Foreign Ministry pays great attention to the incident, and the Chinese embassy in Pakistan has launched emergency procedures to handle the case," he said.

"At the same time we also require the Pakistani side to investigate the case and spare no efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and take credible measures to ensure the safety of Chinese institutions and nationals in Pakistan," Hong said.