China's Ministry of Commerce advised representatives from China's companies to hold off traveling to southern Kyrgyzstan for investment and trade as the deadly ethnic clashes there have killed at least 82 people and wounded 1,000 as of Saturday.

The ministry suggested Chinese people and Chinese-funded companies in Kyrgyzstan monitor developments and take precautionary measures against personal injuries and property losses, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

Kyrgyzstan's interim government has declared a state of emergency and a 24-hour curfew in the southern city of Osh, where riots erupted on Thursday when quarrels between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek escalated into running street battles.