Foreign and Military Affairs

China denies discussing dumping US mortgage bonds

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-02 22:10

BEIJING: China on Tuesday denied having ever had discussions with another country on the dumping of the bonds of US mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu made the denial at a regular press conference in response to the remarks of former US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

According to some media reports, Paulson said in his memoir that during the Beijing Olympic Games, Russia urged China to jointly dump their Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds.

"We have not seen Mr. Paulson's memoir," Ma said.

During the international financial crisis, China took a responsible attitude and made every effort to maintain the stability of the international financial markets, Ma added.

"These efforts were there for all to see," he said.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a vital role in the US mortgage market by purchasing loans from banks and selling them to investors.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac received hundreds of billions of dollars after their effective takeover by the US government.

The takeovers aimed to prevent their collapse after the onset of the subprime mortgage crisis.