Italy asks China to buy its bonds: report

Italy has asked China to make significant purchases of Italian debt, the Financial Times reported on its website on Monday.Italian officials told the FT that Lou Jiwei, chairman of China Investment Corp (CIC), headed up a delegation to Rome last week to meet with Giulio Tremonti, finance minister, and Italys Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.Two weeks ago Italian officials were in Beijing to meet CIC and Chinas State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), which manages the bulk of Chinas foreign exchange reserves, the FT said.CIC is the countrys $300 billion sovereign wealth fund.China signaled in April that it could buy more debt from the euro zones weaker states. There are no precise figures, but China has said it has bought billions of euros of debt.Wu Xiaoling, a former deputy governor of the Peoples Bank of China, told Reuters on Tuesday, that investor panic about Europes debt crisis is unnecessary, and China is ready to work with others to boost market confidence.We will continue to support Europes measures in maintaining a stable euro, said Wu, who is now with the National Peoples Congress Standing Committee, the law-making body.With about a quarter of Chinas record foreign currency reserves of $3.2 trillion estimated to be held in euro assets, Chinese leaders have repeatedly voiced support for the debt-mired single currency area.Premier Wen Jiabao said earlier this month that China retains confidence in the euro and Europes economy but the regions governments need to ensure the security of Chinese investments there.