China, Japan to 'consult closely' on IMF support

Jun Azumi, Japan’s Finance Minister, said Japan and China aim to cooperate on supporting efforts by the International Monetary Fund to contain Europe’s debt crisis, Bloomberg reported. Azumi met Chinese Finance Minister Xie Xuren in Tokyo on Saturday, their second meeting this year. “Rather than make decisions independently, we’ve agreed to consult each other very closely” on financial support to the IMF, Azumi told reporters. He added that the countries will continue talks until the G-20 meeting later this month. “It’s important for Japan to check China’s intention on this, while China probably wants to increase its political influence if it puts up money,” said Tomoko Fujii, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo. In January the IMF asked for as much as US$500 billion in additional lending but member countries have been reluctant to contribute.