“Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi said that his nation and China are committed to help resolve the European debt crisis through the International Monetary Fund once euro region members take further steps themselves.
“We shared the view that Europe needs to make more efforts to create a bigger firewall,” Azumi told reporters in Beijing yesterday after meeting Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan. “We also agreed to act together as the IMF will probably ask the U.S., Japan and China” to help boost its lending capacity.
The meetings deepened dialogue between Asia’s two largest economies after a visit by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to Beijing in December, and contrast with periodic tensions between the two over maritime boundaries. The continued readiness of Japan and China to help offers Europeans an inducement as they close in on a 130 billion-euro ($170 billion) Greek bailout.
“Showing China and Japan are united to support the debt crisis is good news for European markets,” Hiroshi Miyazaki, chief economist at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, said before the meeting. “It may still take some time for the two to decide specifics as Europe hasn’t reached agreement on a solution within the region.”
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
