The head of the eurozone bailout fund, Klaus Regling, has dampened hopes that China would come to the EU's debt rescue, but left the door open for a deal with the world's second-biggest economy.
Mr Regling said he did not expect to reach a conclusive deal with Chinese leaders during the visit, which comes amid intense speculation that China could come to Europe's rescue by investing some of its substantial foreign exchange reserves in the bailout fund.
Hours after yesterday's deal was struck, French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned China's President Hu Jintao, later giving a television interview in which he defended the idea of asking China to bail out Europe.
"If the Chinese, who have 60% of global reserves, decide to invest in the euro instead of the dollar, why refuse?" said the French president.
Mr Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), insisted the timing of his visit was not significant, calling the talks "regular consultations" on China's investment in European bonds.
But he said the EFSF was looking at new ways to secure new investment, speaking after EU leaders announced measures including quadrupling the firepower of the fund to one trillion euros ($1.4 trillion).
"So far the only way we asked for investors to participate (in the bail-out fund) was by buying bonds. There was no other instrument available so far," Mr Regling told a media briefing.
"Now, we may have new instruments... and we will see who participates in these instruments."
China, which has $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, was "interested in funding attractive, solid, safe investment opportunities," Mr Regling added.
His comments came as China's vice finance minister welcomed an EU agreement on measures to address the debt crisis and said the country was still considering whether to invest in the bailout fund.
Mr Regling will travel to Tokyo at the weekend and today Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reiterated his country's readiness to help stabilise the eurozone, but also gave no details of any possible contribution.
China has already invested significant sums in European bonds and has repeatedly called on Europe to address its debt crisis, saying a failure to act risks dragging the world back into recession.
Chinese state media have reported that the country is willing to contribute to the EFSF, but there has been no official confirmation and Beijing has given little indication of how it might be prepared to help.
Yesterday, Beijing cautiously welcomed the European deal and reiterated China's "faith in the EU and the eurozone economy".
Obama wants eurozone deal implemented soon
US President Barack Obama has said the debt crisis deal struck by eurozone leaders had calmed global markets and that it was now important that the 17 countries follow through on implementation of the agreement.
In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Mr Obama underlined the urgency with which he felt Europe must create a "credible firewall" to bring the crisis under control.
The Obama administration fears the eurozone crisis could imperil the fragile US recovery, and Mr Obama said he hopes for concrete progress by the time G20 leaders meet in Cannes next week.
Financial markets rallied strongly on news of the deal yesterday but analysts have warned that the details of the rescue could still take weeks or even months to work out.
Meanwhile the head of the eurozone EFSF bailout fund, Klaus Regling, is in Beijing for talks with potential investors in the facility.
President of the World Bank Robert Zoellick said he thought Chinese participation, in helping to solve the single currency area's debt crisis, would not be unconditional.
