China offers support instead of cash to Eurozone rescue efforts
GREATER co-operation between China and the Eurozone is a likely result of the crisis, but China cannot be seen as a “saviour” of indebted nations, Chinese news agency Xinhua announced yesterday.
The agency, usually seen as the mouthpiece of China’s rulers, said “a prosperous and stable Europe is important to China’s stability and development as their economies are closely linked”.
Because the EU is China’s largest trading partner, the emerging giant will “not act like an onlooker,” and instead is “willing to extend a helping hand” as a “true friend and partner of Europe.”
Immediate bond buying or investment in the European Financial Stability Facility appears to have been ruled out, but a spokeswoman last week called for further cooperation in “trade, investment, technology and finance”.
Meanwhile, French socialists accused president Nicolas Sarkozy of making Europeans appear “weak” by looking for Chinese cash to prop up the Eurozone rescue package.
Sarkozy phoned Chinese president Hu Jintao last week to say Beijing had a “major role to play”.