China calls for financial tie-ups with Japan amid Europe debt woes

BEIJING (Kyodo) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Sunday called for increased communication and cooperation with Japan in financial matters amid concern about a slowdown in the world economy propelled by the debt crisis in Europe.

"As finance ministers and central bank governors around the world are getting busier, communication and cooperation between China and Japan are increasingly important," Wang told Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi as they began talks in Beijing.

Azumi and Wang, who is in charge of macroeconomic and financial affairs, are expected to focus on measures to boost bilateral financial cooperation and coordinate their stances on aid to the troubled eurozone ahead of a meeting of financial chiefs of Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies in Mexico on Feb. 25 and 26.

China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, respectively, "want to send a message that (they) will cooperate and make contribution" via the International Monetary Fund to assisting Europe, a senior Japanese Finance Ministry official told reporters, prior to the Azumi-Wang talks.

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