China offers Europe investment

China wants to help Europe emerge from its debt crisis by increasing investment but would like to see its economy acquire a market status, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on Wednesday. "We have been concerned about the difficulties that the European economy is going through, and we have reaffirmed our willingness to help and increase investment," Wen said at an economic forum in Dalian. He also said the Chinese economy, the world's second largest after the United States, would be assigned market status in 2016 in accordance with the World Trade Organization's regulations anyway. "But if European Union countries are ready to demonstrate their candidness a few years earlier, it would contribute to our friendship," Wen said. He also called on the United States to lift limitations on Chinese investment into the U.S. economy and on high-technology exports to China. "We are sure that the U.S. can overcome the difficulties and fully restore the economy," he added. Wen said China itself would persist with restrained credit policy and proactive tax policy in a bid to hold back inflation and maintain economic growth. He added that the economic situation in China remained favorable and inflation was under control.