New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS): Chinese envoy Zhang Yan Wednesday met External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna and assured him about the safety of two Indian businessmen who were tortured and held by local traders near Shanghai.

Zhang had earlier met Joint Secretary (East Asia) Gautam Bambawale on the same issue.

Two Indian traders were tortured and held by local traders in connection with a trade dispute in Yiwu, one of China's largest centres for commodities trading.

Sources said in his meeting with Bambawale, the Chinese ambassador assured that criminal proceedings had been initiated against five locals for the act.

Sources said the Chinese ambassador said that "serious attention" was being given to the situation and they would resolve the situation quickly.

He also assured their safety.

Zhang's meeting came a day after India summoned Zhang Yue, a deputy chief of the Chinese mission in New Delhi, for ill-treatment meted out to an Indian diplomat S. Balachandran posted in China.

According to reports reaching here, Balachandran had gone to the court to obtain the release of the two businessmen.

According to reports, S. Balachandran -- posted in the Indian consulate in Shanghai and a diabetic -- was Dec 31 forced to attend a five-hour hearing in support of the two Indian traders at China's Yiwu city near Shanghai.