EU leaders praise China's "confidence" during euro crisis

Feb 15, 2012, 9:55 GMT

Beijing - EU leaders met Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday after they praised China's 'confidence' in the euro and its 'constructive reaction' to the eurozone debt crisis.

Hu hosted EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Beijing following their speeches earlier Wednesday and an EU-China Summit on Tuesday.

'The Chinese leaders recognize that the economic fundamentals of the euro are strong,' Van Rompuy said in his speech at the opening of an exhibition on the euro.

He said EU leaders 'appreciated the constructive Chinese reaction to the challenge we face' over the debt crisis.

'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.'

Speaking at the same event, Zhou Xiaochuan, the governor of China's central bank, said China 'will not reduce the proportion of euro exposure' in its foreign exchange reserves, which total some 3.2 trillion dollars.

Zhou said the People's Bank of China 'firmly supports' recent measures by its EU counterpart, the European Central Bank.

He said any expansion of China's role in tackling the EU debt crisis would come via the European Financial Stability Fund and the International Monetary Fund.

Barroso said the eurozone area was at a 'critical juncture' but the EU was 'acting decisively.'

'We have constituted significant firewalls, to the combined tune of 500 billion euros, which are being used to give financial assistance to some member states,' he said.

At Tuesday's EU-China Summit, Premier Wen Jiabao said China was 'ready for a bigger part' in tackling the debt crisis.

But Wen and other Chinese leaders have offered no firm commitments during this week's talks.

State media earlier quoted Lou Jiwei, head of the sovereign fund China Investment Corporation, as saying China was reluctant to invest in European debt and saw better investment prospects in infrastructure and industry.

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