``The relevant reports and relevant rumours to this effect are sheer nonsense,'' Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters here.

A leading Hong Kong-based newspaper on Wednesday reported that Zhu was under pressure from hardliners to quit following the serious setback in Sino-US relations following NATO's bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.

The paper noted that hardliners in China's communist party hierarchy were also critical of Zhu for not taking a tougher stand against NATO's military aggression against Yugoslavia and after the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy which killed three Chinese journalists and injured 20 others.

Following the media reports of Zhu's possible resignation, stock traders speculated that the rumours may havestemmed from Zhu's failure to clinch a deal for China's entry into the WTO.

Responding to another question on NATO's embassy bombing incident of May 7, Zhang urged Washington to make rapid, comprehensive and effective compensation for casualties and property losses suffered during NATO's attack.

The two sides will discuss compensation issues through diplomatic channels, Zhang said, while stressing that the US government must give full recognition to the serious nature of the incident and give a satisfactory account and explanation to the Chinese side.

China has rejected as `unconvincing' a US probe report on the embassy bombing incident which said the bombing was a `mistake' due to the use of outdated maps of Belgrade city.