China is willing to help debt-laden Europe by increasing its investment, said Premier Wen Jiabao Wednesday at the opening of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting of "New Champions 2011," a three-day event held in the city of Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province.

"We have been concerned about the difficulties faced by the European economy for a long time, and we have repeated our willingness to extend a helping hand and increase our investment," Wen said .

Wen also urged the EU to acknowledge China's status as a market economy, and hoped EU leaders can look at Sino-EU relations from a bold and strategic view.

"Based on the WTO rules, China's full market economy status will be recognized by 2016. If EU nations can demonstrate their sincerity several years earlier, it would reflect our friendship," he said.

He added that he hopes his scheduled meeting with EU leaders next month will lead to a breakthrough in this regard.

Premier Wen said earlier this month that China retained confidence in the euro and Europe's economy, but the region's governments need to ensure the security of Chinese investments there.

The overall debt situation in Europe is expected to be worse than last year, considering the debt to GDP ratio, said He Liping, a professor at the School of Economics and Business Administration at Beijing Normal University.