Until a short time ago, the Chinese government and the state-controlled press seemed to be indifferent to the fate of the euro, even though China came to the aid of Greece and Spain. Beijing appeared to assume that a possible breakup of the Euro was of no concern to them.
The tone has changed dramatically. Just before Christmas, Chen Deming, the minister of trade, told a high-ranking trade delegation from the E.U. that they were greatly concerned and that they expected that Europe would act to keep the euro intact.
The next day, the Lisbon paper Journal de Negocios reported that China was prepared to buy Portuguese bonds in the amount of five billion euros.
Seventy percent of China’s reserves in foreign currency consist of dollars that have lost value in the last two years. That is why China has begun to convert a portion of their reserves into euros. Analysts believe that by now perhaps as much as a quarter consists of euros.
This is connected with China’s growing inflation problem, which is made worse by the influx of “hot money” from Hong Kong – speculators’ money in search of short-term gain – funds that cannot be controlled. No one knows how much. This is among the reasons why the Chinese consider a stable euro very much in their interest.
The offers of help from China are greeted in France and Germany without much enthusiasm. It is felt that it would be politically dangerous for Europe to become too dependent on China.
Source: Carlos Barria, Reuters
Eric Koch’s book, The Weimar Triangle, is available at Indigo-Chapters and in your local bookstore. 
With approximately $3.0 in rapidly depreciating U.S. dollars, diversifying into the Euro is an intelligent idea AND China makes new friends for a rainy day.