(Adds China's denial about security pact)
By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY, June 4 (Reuters) - Papua New Guinea's prime minister has warned the opposition not to "play politics" with the visit of China's foreign minister amid an election campaign, noting China is a major trade partner and the biggest buyer of the Pacific nation's gas exports.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Prime Minister James Marape on Friday after signing agreements with his counterpart, in the final days of an eight-nation tour that has raised concern over Beijing's ambitions in the region.
China was unable to gain consensus from 10 Pacific island nations for a sweeping regional pact on security and trade at a meeting on Monday. Several nations said it was too rushed and they wanted to consult the broader region, where some countries have diplomatic ties with Taiwan and not Beijing.
Nonetheless, Wang struck a series of bilateral deals on infrastructure, fisheries, trade and police equipment on his tour, and officials say discussions over a regional pact will continue.
At a press conference in Port Moresby on Friday, Wang denied that China had wanted a security pact at all and called media reports about such an agreement "disinformation".
"China has come to the South Pacific region to build roads and bridges and improve the people's lives, not to station troops or build military bases," a Chinese foreign ministry statement cited him as saying.
"China stands ready to work with Pacific island countries to expand consensus on regional cooperation, not to sign any regional security agreement."
Chinese state media outlet Xinhua this week reported Beijing wanted developing countries to join its new "Global Security Initiative", although details have been scant.
The United States, Australia and New Zealand have expressed concern over Beijing's offers for a greater security and policing presence in the Pacific, after it struck a security pact with Solomon Islands.
In a letter to other Pacific leaders last month, the Federated States of Micronesia warned a multilateral pact with China could bring a "Cold War" to the region.
In a virtual meeting with his Federated States of Micronesia counterpart on Thursday, Wang said China wasn't expanding its military into the Pacific but focusing on economic development.
"The facts over nearly half a century have proved that the exchanges between China and (Pacific island countries) did not and will not affect regional security and stability," he said, according to a foreign ministry statement on Friday.