By Andrew Cave
The move, which will be a relief to struggling eurozone countries including Greece, Portugal and Ireland, was announced as Mr Wen continues his four-day trip to Europe, arriving in Britain last night from Hungary and going on to Germany on Monday night.
China's plan to continue to invest in the continent's volatile sovereign debt market comes as efforts continue to prevent Greece's financial crisis making it the first nation to be forced out of the euro.
"China is a long-term investor in Europe's sovereign debt market," Mr Wen said at a press conference with the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orban.
"In recent years we have increased by quite a big margin our holdings of government bonds. We will consistently continue to support Europe and the euro."
He added: "China is ready to work with Europe to share opportunities, cope with challenges and achieve common development and to make unremitting efforts for stable development of the world economy and an in-depth development of China-Europe ties."
Mr Wen's comments, made before boarding a flight to Birmingham, came after a week in which EU leaders committed themselves to staving off a Greek default provided that the prime minister, George Papandreou, pushes through a package of budget cuts next week.
As a signal of China's enthusiasm for doing deals with Europe, Mr Wen signed 12 trade deals with Hungary and agreed to finance more of the country's debt.
His openness in pledging his support will also bolster the UK Government's hopes of strengthening Anglo-China ties during his time in the UK, when he will tour the Chinese-owned MG car factory in Longbridge and attend a UK-China summit at 10 Downing Street tomorrow.
Writing in today's Sunday Telegraph, Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said that the eurozone should look east for solutions to their continuing debt problems. He said that it is likely that sovereign wealth funds would be keen to invest.
Mr O'Neill said: "Perhaps Europe's leaders should try to put some of their differences aside and offer Asia's yield-hungry investors an even bigger kicker to help solve the crisis.
"As Italy has showed for much of the past 30 years, if you can keep growing and keep financing costs below your nominal growth rate, then you can just about cope with a lot of debt. Unless the Club Med countries get their yields down, it is an impossible burden. Europe's leaders have got to really decide whether they want European monetary union or not, and if so, it is time to act big."
Yves Mersch, a member of the European Central Bank governing council, warned yesterday that a Greek sovereign debt default would lead to financial chaos across Europe, adding it was up to the parliament to deliver on its austerity promises. In Athens, Greek ministers urged wavering members of the ruling Socialist party to do their duty in a knife-edge vote in parliament this week and back painful austerity measures that lenders demand as the price for fresh bailout loans.
Finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, offered to talk to any MP who might have concerns. "I believe that the sense of responsibility will ultimately prevail; the God of Greece is great," he said.
A two-day general strike is planned this week to coincide with the votes, following a rolling series of strikes at companies including Greece's dominant electricity producer, PPC, which is slated for privatisation next year.
As a signal of China's enthusiasm for doing deals with Europe, Mr Wen signed 12 trade deals with Hungary and agreed to finance more of the country's debt.
His openness in pledging his support will also bolster the UK Government's hopes of strengthening Anglo-China ties during his time in the UK, when he will tour the Chinese-owned MG car factory in Longbridge and attend a UK-China summit at 10 Downing Street tomorrow.
Writing in today's Sunday Telegraph, Jim O'Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said that the eurozone should look east for solutions to their continuing debt problems. He said that it is likely that sovereign wealth funds would be keen to invest.
Mr O'Neill said: "Perhaps Europe's leaders should try to put some of their differences aside and offer Asia's yield-hungry investors an even bigger kicker to help solve the crisis.
"As Italy has showed for much of the past 30 years, if you can keep growing and keep financing costs below your nominal growth rate, then you can just about cope with a lot of debt. Unless the Club Med countries get their yields down, it is an impossible burden. Europe's leaders have got to really decide whether they want European monetary union or not, and if so, it is time to act big."
Yves Mersch, a member of the European Central Bank governing council, warned yesterday that a Greek sovereign debt default would lead to financial chaos across Europe, adding it was up to the parliament to deliver on its austerity promises. In Athens, Greek ministers urged wavering members of the ruling Socialist party to do their duty in a knife-edge vote in parliament this week and back painful austerity measures that lenders demand as the price for fresh bailout loans.
Finance minister, Evangelos Venizelos, offered to talk to any MP who might have concerns. "I believe that the sense of responsibility will ultimately prevail; the God of Greece is great," he said.
A two-day general strike is planned this week to coincide with the votes, following a rolling series of strikes at companies including Greece's dominant electricity producer, PPC, which is slated for privatisation next year.
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