China's Premier Wen Jiabao will this week visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the foreign ministry said Tuesday, amid mounting international tensions over oil-rich Iran.

Saudi Arabia is already the largest provider of oil to energy-hungry China, which is under pressure to secure the energy supplies it needs to keep its booming economy going.

Asian markets were mixed on Monday as worries over the Eurozone debt crisis were tempered by better-than-expected U.S. jobs data, while the under-pressure euro touched fresh lows.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index closed 0.90 percent, or 16.65 points, down at 1,826.49, Sydney edged down 3.1 points to 4,105.4 and Hong Kong closed up 1.47 percent, or 272.66 points, at 18,865.72.

Oil prices rose on Monday after the United States stepped up pressure on Iran over the Islamic Republic's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz -- a key shipping route for oil exports to the West.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February climbed 33 cents to $113.39 a barrel in early London deals.

The German trade surplus grew in November as exports increased and imports declined, official data showed on Monday.

Europe's biggest economy exported goods worth 90.7 billion euros ($115 billion) in seasonally-adjusted terms in November, 2.5 percent more than in October, the national statistics office Destatis said.

After a relatively calm start to the year, the Eurozone crisis roared back into the picture on Monday as the euro struggled on the markets ahead of a crunch meeting between the French and German leaders.

The single currency tested fresh 16-month lows against the dollar as doubts continued to rage over Europe's ability to tackle the debt crisis, now entering its third year with little sign of easing.

Japanese auto giant Nissan and German luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz on Sunday announced a tie-up to produce engines in the United States, hailed as their biggest joint project outside Europe.

Kuwait's police have uncovered a plan to smuggle 2.5 million liters of subsidized diesel and arrested 25 people in connection with the scheme, the interior ministry said Sunday.

The diesel was found in tanks and containers at several stores in the southern oil-rich industrial area of Mina Abdullah, the ministry said in a statement cited by the official KUNA news agency.

The International Monetary Fund has growing doubts about Greece's long-term ability to reduce its debts, German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Saturday.

According to an IMF note obtained by the magazine, Greece must accelerate consolidation of public debts or else private creditors will see smaller and smaller returns.

China, the biggest buyer of Iran's oil, has publicly rejected U.S. sanctions aimed at Tehran's energy industry while American allies Japan and South Korea are scrambling to find a compromise to keep critical supplies flowing.

Beijing is buying less Iranian crude this month, but analysts say China is unlikely to support an oil embargo. Instead, they say, the smaller purchases might be a tactic aimed at obtaining lower prices as the West squeezes Tehran.

U.S. President Barack Obama promised Saturday to do "whatever it takes" to maintain growth in the U.S. economy as he announced a summit with business leaders dedicated to job creation at home.

"This year, I'm going to keep doing whatever it takes to move this economy forward and to make sure that middle class families regain the security they've lost over the past decade," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.