BEIJING (MNI) – The head of the European Financial Stability
Facility (EFSF) said Friday he had come to the Chinese capital simply
to briefing government officials about the structure of Europe’s new
sovereign debt rescue plan and insisted there would be no concrete
results about any Chinese contribution to the bailout fund.
Klaus Regling dismissed media speculation about the size of any
Chinese contribution to an enlarged EFSF — which the EU debt plan hopes
to leverage to at least E1 trillion — insisting that his visit was
simply a regular exercise of explaining the outcome of this week’s
European summit to Chinese officials.
“It doesn’t mean we expect any precise outcome of these talks,” he
told a press conference here in the midst of his discussions.
“These are regular consultations … there will be no conclusion on
this occasion during the visit,” Regling said.
However, he did cite China as a “good, loyal customer” of EFSF
bonds since the bailout funds creation and noted China has monthly trade
surpluses that need to be invested.
He said he was meeting with officials from the Ministry of Finance
and the People’s Bank of China but insisted he was not trying to
negotiate the size any Chinese contribution to the EFSF.
“It is far too early to say what amount are envisaged” for the
leveraged EFSF, he said.
beijing@marketnews.com
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