(Adds details)
By Zhou Xin
BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) - China on Friday gave its clearest indication yet that it stands ready to help the International Monetary Fund bail out countries hit by the global credit crisis.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has taken the lead in urging China and other countries with big holdings of foreign exchange reserves to make sure the IMF does not run out of money to support countries felled by the financial turmoil.
"We will actively participate in rescue activities for this international financial crisis," deputy central bank governor Yi Gang told a news conference.
"We can act in many ways -- bilaterally, for example through currency swaps, and also multilaterally, for example by participating in activities on the platform of the IMF," he said.
Yi did not elaborate. He was speaking with other senior officials at a news conference to discuss a 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) economic stimulus package that the Chinese government unveiled on Sunday.
The role of the IMF will be high on the agenda of a 20-country summit in Washington on Saturday to learn lessons from the crisis. President Hu Jintao is representing China. [ID:nPEK76656]
In a position paper released ahead of the meeting, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said Tokyo would be willing to lend up to $100 billion to the IMF. [ID:nN13395940]
Japan has $980 billion in foreign-exchange reserves, while China has a $1.9 trillion stockpile, the world's largest.
WITHIN ITS MEANS
Some of China's Asian neighbours, notably Thailand and the Philippines, have called on Beijing to mobilise part of its reserves to beef up an existing $80 billion web of currency swaps set up by the region's central banks.
The aim is to make credit available at short notice to help countries avert the sort of currency runs that precipitated the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.
China is eager to be a good neighbour and global citizen but has not committed itself to putting down hard cash, either for an Asian support fund or to bolster the IMF's finances.
"There will be a lot of talk about China using its reserves to provide help for other countries, possibly its Asian neighbours," said Jonathan Anderson, chief emerging markets economist at UBS.
"I think there's a good possibility that China may agree that it could provide some financial support," he told reporters in Beijing this week.
Mu Hong, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, the economic planning agency, said China was prepared to share the burden of responsibility -- but within the limits of what it could afford as a developing country.
Yi said China had already played an important role during the crisis by carefully managing its reserves, some two thirds of which are invested in dollar bonds, according to analysts.
"This highly responsible, prudent attitude -- instead of panic selling -- is helpful for the overall financial market," Yi said.
The best way to handle the turmoil was through international cooperation, he added.
"Firstly, we must do our own job well. Maintaining a stable economy and stable financial and capital markets is the biggest contribution China can make," he said. (Reporting by Zhou Xin; Writing by Alan Wheatley; Editing by Anne Marie Roantree)