Robert Mugabe has been refused entry to China to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

The president of Zimbabwe was forced to go home after officials stopped him in Hong Kong. It follows intense pressure to stop him being at Friday's opening, where he would have joined political leaders from across the world.

It is understood Mr Mugabe arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday but could get no farther.

China and Zimbabwe have a close relationship. It is thought intense persuasion was needed to convince Mr Mugabe to return home and not embarrass the host nation, which already faces criticism over human rights and its links to despotic regimes.

George Charamba, a spokesman for Mr Mugabe, said: "President Mugabe attaches great importance to the ongoing talks [between the Government and opposition in Zimbabwe], which is why he is not going to China for the grand opening of the Olympics."

Mr Mugabe won a sixth term in a disputed presidential election run-off on 27 June boycotted by opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Britain and America are among the nations who have not recognised his re-election and the African Union is urging him to form a unity government with the opposition.

Zimbabwe has 11 athletes in Beijing, including an Olympic gold medallist, swimmer Kirsty Coventry, and tennis player Cara Black.

Dozens of world leaders are expected at the opening ceremony, including George Bush and Nicolas Sarkozy. Gordon Brown is not attending.

Last year, the prime minister snubbed Mr Mugabe by boycotting a summit of European and African leaders. At the time Mr Brown said he was not prepared to be at the same conference as a leader responsible for torture and mass intimidation of political opponents. Earlier this year, Mr Mugabe provoked outrage by flying to Rome for a United Nations summit on rising food prices.

Under his rule, Zimbabwe has changed from one of Africa's biggest food exporters to a country where almost a quarter of the population are kept alive by the World Food Programme.

China has strong trading links with Zimbabwe. In April it emerged that a ship carrying weapons from China had docked in a South African port, en route to Mr Mugabe's regime. It held 77 tonnes of small arms, including three million rounds of ammunition and 1,500 rockets.

The news raised fears that Mr Mugabe was preparing to use Chinese firepower to help him cling to office.

The ship eventually had to return home after South African dockworkers and other southern African countries refused to unload it. Meanwhile Beijing was under security lockdown today following the attacks in the province of Xinjiang.

The army sent in thousands of reinforcements and police met Olympic officials to discuss how to strengthen the "ring of steel" in the city.

Vehicle searches on the roads were stepped up and there were lengthy security queues at airports. Even homing pigeons and kites were banned from the skies over the capital.

A government spokesman said: "Pigeons and kites have been a severe threat to the safety of planes coming out of the airport."