China pledged support Tuesday for European action on the sovereign debt crisis and expressed hopes that an EU summit this week can help stabilise markets and stop it from spreading.

"The Chinese side will continue to support the building of a unified Europe and support efforts by Europe to overcome the sovereign debt crisis," the foreign ministry said in a statement faxed to AFP.

China "is willing to make efforts with the international community to stabilise international financial markets and advance the recovery and growth of the global economy."

The ministry was responding to questions concerning calls from France and Germany for Europe's leaders to agree on strict rules for fiscal discipline at the summit.

The bold call by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel for a rewrite of the EU treaty to set uniform tough budget standards across the eurozone raised hopes that the region might finally take decisive, comprehensive moves to end the crisis.

"We have noted that recently the EU has raised a series of important proposals on addressing the debt issue (and that) during the EU summit on December 8-9 a new important decision may be reached to address the crisis," the ministry statement said.

"We hope the concerned measures can serve to stabilise markets, raise confidence and effectively end the crisis from spreading, as well as advance the unity of of Europe."

European leaders have lobbied China, the world's second largest economy, to help struggling eurozone countries by contributing to a bailout fund, but so far Beijing has not made a firm commitment.

The Asian powerhouse, which has the world's largest foreign exchange reserves at $3.2017 trillion, has said it is keen to seek more investment opportunities in Europe, but has held back from agreeing to contribute to the fund.