EU leaders in China for debt crisis talks

Premier Wen Jiabao is set to meet EU President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Beijing.

Europe is China's biggest trade partner and the EU has courted investment in its bailout fund but Beijing has so far made no specific pledges of assistance.

The crisis in eurozone counties has intensified in recent days.

Greece passed a package of severe cuts late on Sunday demanded by the EU and IMF in return for a 130bn euro ($170bn; £110bn) bailout.

But the austerity measures have proved deeply unpopular, and caused riots in Athens.

On Monday one of the main international credit agencies, Moody's, downgraded its ratings for six European countries, including Italy, Portugal and Spain.

It also downgraded the credit outlook for France, Britain and Austria.

'Clear signal needed'

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said on Monday that the debt issue was "at a critical juncture".

"We believe that as China's largest trading partner and the largest economy in the world [collectively], it is important for the European Union to resolve this issue," he said.

China has about $3tn in foreign exchange reserves, the largest such fund in the world.

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