William Hague has discussed the murder of businessman Neil Heywood in China with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Foreign Office said.

Washington became involved after former Chongqing police chief Wang Lijun made allegations about Mr Heywood's death to US officials on February 6.

But under pressure from MPs last week to reveal why Britain did not intervene sooner over the murder of the 41-year-old, Mr Hague did not mention talks with Mrs Clinton.

Unconfirmed media reports suggest that Chinese police suspect Mr Heywood may have been poisoned after threatening to expose a plan by the wife of Bo Xilai, a former rising star in Chinese politics who was suspended from the Politburo in April , to move money abroad.