China urges EU decisiveness on economic woes

China praised the EU bailout for Spanish banks this week, but urged the eurozone to be more decisive in order to maintain long-term stability, Reuters reported. The EU’s decision to lend up to US$125 billion to save troubled Spanish banks makes Spain the fourth country (after Greece, Ireland and Portugal) to receive aid since the continent’s sovereign debt crisis began. “We hope these measures will be helpful in containing the crisis. This can be of great use in controlling short-term risk. But, in the interests of mid- or long-term stability, we hope the eurozone will improve consensus and take more decisive action,” said Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao. The EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have now committed a total of US$625 billion to fund European bailouts. Chinese President Hu Jintao has previously said that his country would “not be absent” from plans to finance the IMF.