China 'keeps faith' in euro
February 15, 2012
Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Wednesday his country would cooperate on policy with the European Union and play a role in international efforts to support Brussels, state media reported.
"I believe Europe has the ability and the wisdom to overcome the difficulties," Hu was reported as saying on the second day of a China-EU summmit in Beijing.
"No country can face the complicated global economic situation alone," Hu added. "China and Europe should cooperate and help each other."
EU President Herman Van Rompuy had earlier praised China's confidence in the euro.
"We highly value your confidence," Van Rompuy said. "We will consult each other and we will cooperate in a concrete way to ensure the financial stability of the eurozone."
China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan told the summit participants that Beijing had no plans to reduce its euro reserves.
Beijing holds some $3.2 trillion (2.5 trillion euros) worth of euros in foreign exchange reserves.
Support through existing mechanisms
Zhou said the People's Bank of China firmly supported recent European Central Bank measures to stave off contagion. He said any increased financial backing for the eurozone on China's part would come through the European Financial Stability Fund and the International Monetary Fund.
On Tuesday Premier Wen Jiabao had assured Van Rompuy and European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso that Beijing was "ready for a bigger part" in helping to tackle the crisis, without offering any firm commitment.
State media had earlier quoted the head of the sovereign fund China Investment Corporation, Lou Jiwei, saying China was reluctant to invest in European debt viewing investment prospects in infrastructure and industry as preferable.
EU leaders on Tuesday urged China to open its markets and to play a greater role in helping to end bloodshed in Syria. Last week, Beijing vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning violence inflicted by the regime in Damascus.
rc/ncy (AP, AFP, dpa)