BEIJING, Oct 15: China has asked Pakistan to ensure the safety of Chinese nationals in the country after a Chinese engineer was killed in a hostage crisis.

In a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz late on Thursday night, Premier Wen Jiabao asked the Pakistani government to adopt 'effective' measures to guarantee the safety of Chinese nationals, the People's Daily newspaper said.

"The Chinese government strongly condemns this terrorist act involving the kidnapping of Chinese citizens. We hope both sides can cooperate closely to properly handle the aftermath," Mr Wen told Mr Aziz, according to the report.

Meanwhile, a Chinese government team leaves for Pakistan on Friday to investigate the kidnapping and ill-fated rescue of two Chinese engineers, Xinhua news agency quoted a source as saying.

The team, headed by Chen Jian, assistant to the minister of commerce, includes personnel from the foreign affaris and commerce ministries and other officials. -Agencies