British Prime Minister Tony Blair has met China's new leaders and promised enhanced trade ties in talks that may bring a renewed push for a diplomatic solution on North Korea.
But the crisis in London sparked by the suicide of David Kelly, an expert on Iraqi weapons, continued to steal the spotlight from Blair's whirlwind Far East trip.
Questions over whether his government shares responsibility for Dr Kelly's death have plagued the Asian tour.
Dr Kelly, a British Ministry of Defence scientist, slashed his wrist in an Oxfordshire wood after being thrust into a media fracas over the case Britain made for war on Iraq.
In Beijing, the thorny issue of discontent in Hong Kong, thrown into crisis after mass protests this month to denounce an anti-subversion bill, has also crept onto the agenda.
The territory's leader, Mr Tung Chee-hwa, won renewed support from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and President Hu Jintao. in Beijing on Saturday, but questions linger about Hong Kong's economic future and the freedoms its residents enjoy.
Pyongyang remains near the top of the agenda. Mr Blair said in South Korea that the North Korean crisis should be handled with special sensitivity rather than military threats - a statement that should go down well in Beijing.
Mr Blair is due to travel to Hong Kong on Tuesday after a stop in Shanghai.