Li pledges to help solve debt crisis

China will help solve the European debt crisis through various channels and firmly supports the euro and EU integration, said Vice-Premier Li Keqiang as the crisis worsens with Spain's borrowing costs hitting record highs on Thursday.

Li made the remarks when meeting visiting Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reyners at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang meets visiting Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Didier Reyners in Beijing on June 14, 2012. [Photo/China Daily]

"China firmly supports the euro and EU integration, and will go on joining hands with the international community to solve the European debt crisis through various channels," Li told Reyners, according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.

"China believes the EU is capable of having member nations reach consensus and that they will make efforts to stabilize the financial situation, promote growth and employment and properly handle the debt issue," Li said.

Reyners told Li that Belgium is willing to play an active role in pushing forward China's relations with Europe. The two leaders last met in May.

The Belgian is the longest-serving minister of finance in the EU, and warned on May 25 that central banks and companies would be making a grave error if they were not preparing for Greece to leave the eurozone.

"There is no organized discussion at the European level as to what we do (if Greece leaves). If central banks and companies are not preparing for the scenario, that would be a grave professional error," he told the European American Press Club in Paris.

"The situation in the eurozone is very serious. With problems emerging in Spain, hopes for other countries of saving Greece have further faded," said Zhang Jianxiong, an expert on European studies with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Li's remarks reflect Beijing's attitude at the moment — it does not want to see the eurozone come apart and will help in its own way."

"It's the responsibility of a major country. The EU is China's largest trading partner. The deteriorated financial situation there will overshadow China's exports and its economic growth," Zhang said.

Reyners arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a four-day visit. He also met Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi earlier on Thursday.

He is scheduled to meet Vice-Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission Xie Zhenhua and key Chinese business leaders on Friday.

On Friday, the deputy prime minister will also give a keynote speech on the eurozone at a seminar gathering business people and economic experts, and address the China Global Outbound Investment Summit.

Contact the writer at lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn