China welcomes Eurozone deal

China on Thursday welcomed a last-ditch deal by European nations meeting in Brussels to tackle their festering debt crisis, saying it would lift market confidence. China, the world's second-largest economy, has invested significant sums in European debt and has repeatedly called on Europe to address its sovereign debt crisis, saying a failure to act risks dragging the world back into recession.

European leaders have been toying with the idea of asking China, Brazil and other top emerging economies to come to their rescue, possibly by contributing to a multi-billion-dollar rescue fund. China's foreign ministry also confirmed that President Hu Jintao would speak to his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy later Thursday to "exchange views on the international financial situation," without elaborating.

The state-owned China Daily newspaper, citing a source close to EU decision makers, said Wednesday China and other top emerging economies had agreed to help Eurozone countries by contributing to the bailout fund.