China, fearing a rapid escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula, called on North Korea on Wednesday to stop its nuclear and missile tests and for South Korea and the United States to stop joint military drills and seek talks instead.

Asian stocks erased early losses and edged higher on Wednesday as strong China trade data bolstered bets of a recovering global economy, though gains were capped by caution ahead of a widely expected U.S. interest rate hike next week.

Belgium-based SWIFT said on Wednesday it has stopped providing financial services to all North Korean banks under U.N. sanctions, as international tensions rise over Pyongyang's increasingly aggressive military behaviour.

Support for Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) nudged up to 32 percent, one percentage point behind Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, over the past week, according to a poll published on Wednesday.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak struck a softer tone with North Korea on Wednesday, a day after accusing it of treating Malaysians as "hostages" amid a diplomatic meltdown over the murder of the estranged half-brother of the North's leader.

China posted its first monthly trade deficit in three years in February as imports surged at their fastest pace since early 2012, driven by its strong demand for commodities from iron ore to crude oil and coal.