Three years ago this month, the collapse of Lehman Brothers caught most investors around the world off guard before galvanizing the international community into unprecedented joint efforts to deal with the worst global financial and economic crisis in more than 70 years.

Now, in the face of a looming double-dip global recession, will fears over a possible banking crisis of similar severity from Europe do the same?

It will be a pity if it takes such a crisis to create the political will for European countries to take the necessary actions to stem their government debt crises.

Finance ministers and central bankers from the seven big industrialized economies, who will meet in France on Friday, should do their best to prevent a replay of the 2008 global crisis.

Given the intertwined nature of the global financial system, a new banking crisis could easily derail the fragile global recovery by damaging economic growth within and beyond Europe.

To contain a deepening financial crisis that is engulfing more and more European countries, policymakers of the euro zone can no longer afford to just talk about a closer European fiscal relationship to match the unified monetary union under which the euro zone has operated for more than a decade.

The need for strong economic governance in a zone with a single currency is so obvious that any hesitation to take concrete action in this regard will only further unnerve investors who seem to be already on the brink of panic.

Borrowing costs are soaring rapidly for debt-laden European countries in the south. Greek 10-year bond yields recently rocketed to a euro-era record of nearly 20 percent. The public's patience is wearing thin among spreading strikes.

European policymakers must act quickly to overhaul the present system of uncoordinated policies between surplus countries and debt-laden ones.

While keeping in mind the sense of urgency, they should also recognize that it is only a strong and sustainable economic recovery, not quantitative easing or fiscal stimulus that can solve the crisis.

In that case, their commitment to international trade and cross-border investment is as important as their resolution to seek necessary and strong economic governance.

Sitting on a foreign exchange reserve of more than $3 trillion, China is well positioned to increase investment in Europe as well as other overseas markets. In 2010, China's investment into the European Union more than doubled to $5.96 billion and that is clearly just the beginning.

Meanwhile, China's bulging demand for imports, which is expected to top $15 trillion in the next 10 years, also provides a rare source of growth for European countries.

Lack of concrete efforts to seize these opportunities for future growth will prove as costly as the absence of a joint response in Europe to deal with the current crisis.

(China Daily 09/08/2011 page10)