Washington: China continues to provide nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles assistance to Pakistan despite assurances to the US that it would not do so, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has said.

"We cannot rule out, however, some continued contacts subsequent to the pledge between Chinese entities and entities associated with Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme," it said in its latest six- monthly report to the Congress.

The latest report on Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction covers the period January 1 through June 30, 2003.

Unlike previous reports, there are no separate chapters relating to India and Pakistan but their activities find mention in the context of actions by China, Russia, North Korea and the European Union (EU).

The report elaborates on the assistance Pakistan and other countries are receiving for developing its weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional ammunitions.

Chinese entity assistance has helped Pakistan move toward domestic serial production of solid- propellant SRBMs (short range ballistic missiles) and supported Pakistan's development of solid- propellant MRBMs (medium range ballistic missiles), the report said.

PTI