China is prepared to participate in any future eurozone stabilisation measures, seeing the euro as a key pillar of a multi-currency global financial system, deputy central bank governor Yi Gang said on Wednesday. Speaking at a briefing in London by the People's Bank of China (PBOC) and Chinese government officials, Yi also said Beijing would take into "positive consideration" the question of investing in the eurozone's emergency fund for member states.
"China indeed supports the series of stabilisation measures adopted by the European Union, the ECB (European Central Bank) and the IMF (International Monetary Fund)," Yi said. "China is a stable and continued long-term investor in European financial markets and I'm sure if there's need of the European emergency fund or the stabilisation mechanism, we would like to actively participate in these mechanisms - of course with your permission."
The European Financial Stability Facility is a 440 billion euro ($570 billion) fund that helps heavily indebted eurozone nations and can raise funds on international markets. Recent Chinese pledges to buy Spanish and Portuguese bonds have already helped shore up debt markets in the eurozone periphery as well as the single currency.
Yi said China's assistance should be seen as part of a long-term process, dictated partly by its own need to diversify investments but also by its faith in the euro's viability. He added: "We support the diversified international currency system and we do think the euro is a very important pillar of that system. That's why we have full confidence in the euro."
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