Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) told Greek lawmakers yesterday he was committed to improving Beijing’s relations with the EU on the eve of crucial meetings in Brussels.
“I am convinced that a strong Europe is irreplaceable ... China wants to promote and strengthen strategic links with the European Union,” Wen said in an address to the parliament in Athens ahead of the Asia-Europe and EU-China summits in Brussels.
China was working to improve its investment environment, protect intellectual property and develop cooperation in the field of technology, Wen said during an hour-long speech broadcast live.
Photo: AFP
“There is no conflict of interest between the EU and China but a complimentarity between both sides. China is working to continue opening up” toward Europe, said Wen, who addressed the parliament in Chinese.
Wen said European exports to China were up 42 percent in the first half of this year, and would reach US$500 billion by the end of the year.
Wen arrived in Greece on Saturday for the start of a week-long European tour that will take him to Brussels today before visits to Turkey and Italy.
The two-day summit will be followed by separate EU talks on Wednesday with China and South Korea that could reveal tensions over China’s human rights record and the yuan.
Europe and the US have accused China of deliberately keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, causing a huge trade imbalance.
On Saturday, Wen offered badly needed investment and support to cash-strapped Greece, boosting Chinese influence in the country as it struggles to emerge from a debt crisis.
China pledged to back Greece, which nearly defaulted earlier this year when investors sniffed at its debt, in future issues of long-term bonds.
Wen also signed a flurry of agreements on investment and tourism with his Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, and announced the creation of a US$5 billion fund to help finance the purchase of Chinese ships by Greek shipping companies.
“With its foreign exchange reserve, China has already bought and is holding Greek bonds and will keep a positive stance in participating and buying bonds that Greece will issue,” Wen said, speaking through an interpreter.
“China will undertake a great effort to support eurozone countries and Greece to overcome the crisis … China will participate in the purchase of new Greek bond issues,” Wen said at a joint press conference with Papandreou.
Crippled by debts of nearly 300 billion euros (US$414 billion), Greece was driven to the brink of bankruptcy in May. It became the first eurozone member to be bailed out by the EU and the IMF, who between them put together a 110 billion euro rescue package.
Since then, Athens has only issued short-term bonds to refinance its debt, but hopes that it can sufficiently restore confidence among investors by next year to be able to issue long-term bonds at affordable rates.
A senior Greek government official said Wen made clear that his offer concerned buying bonds only when the country returned to markets.
Wen did not specify how much Greek debt China would be willing to buy or which Chinese entities would buy the bonds. He also said that China and the EU should work together to reform and regulate the world’s financial system.
“I think we can, in a joint effort with the EU, reform the financial system and reinforce controls on this system,” he said.
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