LONDON, August 11, 2008 (AFP) - British police on Monday named a young Chinese couple found murdered at their flat in a 'frenzied' attack which has shocked the local Asian community.

Xi Zhou and Zhen Xing Yang, both 25, were found with serious head injuries in Newcastle, northeast England, on Saturday by friends.

Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, leading the investigation, said that the flat was heavily blood stained when the bodies were discovered.

'It was a vicious attack, there was a lot of blood and I think in any interpretation, that was a frenzied attack,' he told reporters.

Police say she may also have been suffocated in a crime for which they have yet to discover a motive.

The pair were graduates of Newcastle University and Xi was working at a restaurant in the city. Her family has been traced to Hunan province in southeast China.

Xi completed a master's degree in applied linguistics in 2006, while Zhen, whose family has not yet been traced, graduated in international human resources at the same time.

'They were two nice hard working respectable people who have come to the UK for the best of reasons, to get a good education,' Wade added.

'They had both worked hard while at Newcastle University and both had done extremely well, graduating with good degrees.'

The killing has triggered concern among other Chinese young people in the area, which has a large Asian community.

'I am very shocked, I cannot see if we should live in this area any more,' said Ishaopeng Wu, 31, a member of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, at the weekend.

'It is a tough area, but convenient for the university... sometimes local children attack us. I don't know whether it is because we come from another country.'

In June, two university students from France -- Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, both 23 -- were found dead in Bonomo's apartment in New Cross, southeast London after being bound, burned and repeatedly stabbed.