Tuesday, December 21, 2010

China frets about EU debt woes - Reuters

Tue Dec 21, 2010 7:02am EST

* Concerned about whether EU can control debt crisis

* Says global economic recovery fragile, markets volatile

* Pledges to speed up Doha round of WTO talks

(Adds quotes, comments from EU officials)

By Langi Chiang and Kevin Yao

BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters) - China urged European policymakers to back their tough talk with action on Tuesday by showing they can contain the euro zone's festering debt problems.

China, which has invested an undisclosed portion of its $2.65 trillion reserves in the euro, said it backed Europe's efforts so far to tackle the debt problems, but made clear it would like to see the measures having more effect.

"We are very concerned about whether the European debt crisis can be controlled," Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said during a dialogue between China and the European Union (EU), its biggest trade partner.

"We want to see if the EU is able to control sovereign debt risks and whether consensus can be translated into real action to enable Europe to emerge from the financial crisis soon and in a good shape."

Concerns that Europe's debt problems could engulf bigger economies such as Spain have weighed on global financial markets this year and taken a toll on the euro EUR=.

The currency suffered yet another setback on Tuesday when credit agency Moody's warned it may cut Portugal's rating by one or two notches due to its weak growth prospects and steep borrowing costs. [ID:nLDE6BK0HV] [USD/]

China's Vice Premier Wang Qishan said Beijing had played its part to ease Europe's plight and held out hope that a turning point was near.

"The EU has taken active measures to deal with the debt crisis, and we hope the measures can achieve some results as soon as possible," Wang said at the opening of the trade dialogue.

But he said risks abounded, with global demand and the world economy still tepid, and financial markets mired in choppy trade and excess cash.


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