China's Xi says EU debt problems are 'temporary'

DUBLIN: China believes the EU's economic problems are temporary and it will continue to support the bloc's efforts to deal with its debts, leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping said Saturday ahead of a visit to Ireland.

"China does not think one should 'talk down' or 'short' to Europe, because we believe that the difficulties facing Europe are temporary," the vice president, expected to lead China from next year, told the Irish Times.

"The EU and the governments and people across Europe have the ability, the wisdom, and the means to solve the sovereign debt problem and achieve economic recovery and growth."

Xi said that as the world's largest economy and Beijing's biggest trading partner, the European Union was important for China and would become even more so with the continued expansion of bilateral cooperation.

"China takes its relationship with Europe as one of the strategic priorities of its diplomacy, and supports the process of European integration and the efforts of EU members, Ireland included, to overcome difficulties and achieve economic recovery," he told the newspaper.

"We have offered sincere help to our European friends in line with our means, through increased mutual investment and business cooperation.

"China will continue to support, in its own way, efforts of the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund in addressing the European debt problem.

"A Europe that is united, stable and prosperous will definitely make a valuable contribution to the strong, balanced and sustainable growth of the world economy."

Xi arrives in Ireland on Saturday afternoon for a three-day trip, nine years after he first visited the country. He told the Irish Times he had been "deeply impressed" then by Ireland's natural beauty and its development.

He will be met by Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore when he flies in to Shannon Airport from the United States, for a trade visit expected to involve the signing of a number of cooperation agreements.

Xi will hold talks with Prime Minister Enda Kenny and attend an Ireland-China trade forum in Dublin involving about 300 companies.

Ireland was severely battered by the global financial crisis and was forced to seek an 85-billion-euro ($112 billion) EU-IMF rescue package in November 2010 after massive debts left its economy on the brink of collapse.