China 'essential to European recovery' (2)

The sentiments of the two former leaders were shared by other speakers at the event, including Philipp Hildebrand, the head of the Swiss National Bank until January this year, who now oversees the largest institutional client relationships at New York's BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager.

Hildebrand told delegates that the eurozone is back on the road to rehabilitation, but agreed with Sarkozy that a full recovery won't take place in the next year or two, until fiscal reforms have worked their way through the various affected economies.

"In this environment, it will be very helpful if the rest of the world economy is robust," he said.

"So it is very good news for Europe that the Chinese economy has only seen a temporary slowdown, and data suggest that it is reaccelerating somewhat," said Hildebrand.

The eurozone was rocked again last week after France was deprived of its triple A rating by the international ratings agency Moody's, raising further concerns that the debt crisis may further deteriorate.

In contrast, China, the world's second-largest economy, is expected to see a slightly warmer winter after a series of indicators showed gradual economic improvement, including a purchasing managers' index that rebounded to above the critical 50 level, and industrial added value that has seen growth for three consecutive months.

China Business News reported on Monday that this year's Central Economic Work Conference will be held in December, which is expected to set the path for next year's economic development, and which may set the growth target for 2013 on par with that of this year at 7.5 percent.

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers showed that in the first quarter of this year, the direct investment made by Chinese companies exceeded that by European companies in China for the first time.

Since 2011, China has conducted 32 merger and acquisition deals in Europe, having a total value of 11 billion euros ($14.26 billion). In the corresponding period, there were 26 M&A deals by European companies in China, totaling 7 billion euros, the report showed.

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