China to continue investment in euro

Updated: 2012-02-15 20:16

By Zheng Yangpeng (chinadaily.com.cn)

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BEIJING - China will continue to invest in the euro and expects more attractive investment products, Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Wednesday, echoing earlier remarks made by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"China expects the EU to offer investment products that are more attractive and more favorable to China-EU cooperation," Zhou said.

Premier Wen told EU leaders on Tuesday that China will continue to invest in euro debt in accordance with the principles of security, liquidity, and value preservation, and that China will participate through the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the EFSF(European Financial Stability Facility) and the planned ESM(European Stability Mechanism).

Zhou said China will continue to invest in the euro, expressing confidence in both the euro and in the ability of members to solve their debt problems.

He said the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have expressed willingness to help the EU solve its sovereign debt crisis. Chinese leaders have assured EU leaders that China will not reduce the level of its investment in the EU during the crisis.

Zhou made the remarks while attending speeches by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the University of International Business and Economics.

"The People's Bank of China firmly supports the European Central Bank's recent measures to address the difficulties," Zhou said.

China welcomes a fiscal agreement to be signed in March that will build up a massive fund to backstop European debt.

"In the current crisis, beyond the money involved, it is a common European destiny which is at stake. That is why … we will do everything that is required to maintain the euro and the financial stability of the euro zone," Rompuy said in his speech.

Rompuy cited English writer John Donne to conclude his speech: "No man is an island. He or she is a part of the main."

Rompuy and Barroso came to Beijing to attend the China-EU Summit. The summit was delayed from late last year as European leaders struggled to deal with an escalating debt crisis.