BEIJING - CHINESE President Hu Jintao has cut short an official visit to Italy for the Group of Eight (G-8) summit and is returning home following deadly rioting in the Xinjiang region, state media reported on Wednesday.

Mr Hu left for home early on Wednesday 'due to the situation in northwest China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region' the Xinhua news agency reported.

In Rome, the ANSA news agency quoted Tang Heng, the first political counsellor at the Chinese embassy in the Italian capital as saying Mr Hu decided to curtail his trip 'given the worsening of the disorder in Xinjiang.'

The summit opens later on Wednesday in the central Italian town of L'Aquila and although China is not a member of the G-8, much of the talks was to include emerging powers including Beijing.

State Councillor Dai Bingguo would take part in the summit on Mr Hu's behalf, Xinhua reported.

Fresh ethnic strife erupted in Urumqi, capital of China's remote northwest Xinjiang region, on Tuesday as thousands of angry Han Chinese armed with poles, meat cleavers and other makeshift weapons stormed through the streets as the flashpoint city riven by ethnic tensions descended into chaos.

Heavily armed security forces fired tear gas at the crowds and ordered a night curfew in an effort to restore calm in Urumqi, where 156 people died in weekend clashes.

During his visit to Italy, Mr Hu met on Monday with his Italian counterpart Mr Giorgio Napolitano and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Mr Berlusconi examined bilateral economic matters with Mr Hu while several trade agreements worth more than a billion euros were signed.

Mr Hu left Rome on Monday evening to visit Venice, where he spent Tuesday morning before going on to Florence and Pisa in Tuscany, where a large Chinese community is involved with textile manufacture. - AFP.