CHINA and Japan both pledged to help the sovereign debt-ridden eurozone on condition that their assistance would be provided through the International Monetary Fund and the eurozone's own institutions – the European Financial Stability Facility and the future European Stability Mechanism.
Both countries were also adamant that eurozone countries had to do more to help themselves.
Despite its public promise, Beijing has so far refused to be more concrete about the exact sum it would be willing to provide to aid the euro area. Critics say that the deal should concentrate on trade and investment rather than in pouring money into the eurozone's bailout fund.
Japan and China's commitments came on the heels of an EU-China summit that also discussed the EU’s controversial carbon tax on foreign-based airlines, which could trigger a trade war.
Earlier in February China banned its airlines from joining the EU's Emission Trading Scheme that the EU requires of all airlines that take off and land at airports within the European Union.
China has a powerful ally in the United States, as both countries argue that the EU rule is a violation of their sovereignty.
The EU runs the largest carbon trading market in the world.
