Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was quoted by the Financial Times on Saturday as saying he would like to see even greater efforts by Europe to "ease (eurozone) crisis worries by creating a stronger and more detailed approach". The newspaper said Japan, the world's third-largest economy, remained concerned about possible contagion.
"This fire is not on the other side of the river," Noda told the FT. "Currently, the most important thing is to ensure it does not spread to Asia or the global economy." The newspaper said Japan held just over 20 percent of the 10 billion euros in bonds issued by Europe's bailout fund, and that Noda - finance minister until becoming prime minister last month - signalled that Tokyo would continue to back the expanded European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). On Friday, the EFSF's chief executive sought financial support from China to help resolve the eurozone's debt crisis, saying that while no quick deal was in sight he was still confident Beijing would keep buying bonds issued by his fund.
Klaus Regling was in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials a day after eurozone leaders struck a hard-fought accord on the two-year crisis that nonetheless left major economies Italy and Spain under financial market pressure. After the European summit in Brussels reached agreement in the early hours of Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy immediately got on the phone to China to seek financial help, saying Beijing had "a major role to play".
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