Darling: China Won't Save Europe From Crisis

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling has told Sky News that China "won't come to Europe's rescue" despite increased hopes of financial help.

Global interest in whether China will help bolster the eurozone's bailout fund has been growing since the rescue package was agreed last week.

But when asked on Jeff Randall Live whether he thought China will intervene, Mr Darling said: "No, they'll play for long term. They're going to sit back and they're just going to watch."

He said the Chinese "aren't indifferent or daft" when it comes to helping the region.

"After last week's deal, someone went to China and the Chinese had a look and it and then said: 'No, just come back when you've sorted it out.'

"That's when alarm bells ought to be ringing," he added.

Mr Darling's comments have come as France's president Nicolas Sarkozy holds a working dinner with his Chinese counterpart Hu JinTao.

The European Financial Stability Facility currently stands at 440bn euros but Europe's leaders hope to boost it to 1trn euros.

China's GDP grew by over 9% in the third quarter from a year earlier - significantly more than Europe's economies - and the country has the world's largest foreign currency reserves.

The pressure is on for politicians at the G20 meeting to convince Hu JinTao that his financial firepower would be well-placed in supporting Europe.

Foreign ministry spokesman, Hong Lei, said his country believes Europe can "resolve its current difficulties".

"China consistently places importance on the euro and the eurozone's development and has always believed the EU has the ability to resolve current difficulties," he said.

"China will always be an important investor in the European financial market."

The European debt crisis will dominate the agenda at the G20 meeting in Cannes.

But a surprise Greek referendum on the region's bailout, announced by prime minister George Papandreou on Monday, has led to market fluctuations across the world.