Hopes that China will buy government bonds of the ailing EU countries, could prove to be premature. After Prime Minister Wen Jiabao had promised a stronger commitment of his country in Europe the previous day, banks and government representatives rowed back on Thursday. “If the Europeans to help themselves, why should we do it?” Said the former central banker and current chairman of the quasi-governmental China Merchants Bank (CMB), Ma Weihua at the World Economic Forum in Dalian. Looking at Greek Debt Ma said: “They have no value. Nobody will invest in such bonds.”
When asked whether China to buy bonds from Spain, Portugal or, as recently speculated, from Italy, Ma said: “We can not sacrifice our own interests to help others. China can not be the last resort. We have neither the ability, nor do we want it. “With total assets of 2,300 billion yuan (263 billion euros) and 50,000 employees, the CMB is the sixth largest bank in China. “We must get our own house in order first,” Ma said, “Our biggest enemies for now are the inflation and corruption.”