Chinese economists pessimistic about Europe's prospects

Increasing pessimism is emerging from Chinese economists and in the business press about Europe's prospects, following a European Union bailout for Spanish banks and ahead of a general election in Greece that could determine whether the country will stay in the eurozone.

Economist Han Zhiguo posted on his micro blog that the EU has already "spiritually disbanded".

Top-down rescue plans are meaningless and will not achieve their goals, he wrote, and if the crisis is allowed to linger, the future can only be the EU's formal collapse.