China urges US to handle debt responsibly

China urges US to handle debt responsibly
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Summary China's central bank governor has called on Washington to handle its debt responsibly.

Chinas central bank governor urged Washington to act responsibly to deal with its debt issues, saying uncertainty in the USTreasuries market will undermine the international monetary system and hamper global growth.The remarks by Zhou Xiaochuan, head of the Peoples Bank of China, were Chinas first official response to the passage of a USdeficit-cutting deal after weeks of bitter wrangling that alarmed financial markets and brought the country to the brink of what some pundits predicted would be a catastrophic debt default.As the largest creditor to the United States, China is particularly vulnerable to USdebt strains. Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to protect its dollar investments, estimated to account for about two-thirds of its $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, the worlds largest.Zhou welcomed USprogress in dealing with its debt problems but urged Washington to take what he called concrete and responsible measures to bolster confidence in USTreasuries, of which China is a major buyer.Big fluctuations and uncertainty in the USTreasury market will influence the stability of international monetary and financial systems, thus hurting the global economic recovery, Zhou said in a statement posted on the central banks website.
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