PARIS — While European politicians battle over whether to issue common euro zone bonds to help resolve the currency area’s sovereign debt crisis, China could influence the outcome.

Europe is Beijing’s biggest export market, and Chinese leaders have a declared interest in avoiding a financial meltdown in the European Union that could set off a world recession.

They want to diversify their $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves away from U.S. Treasury bonds. They started to do so long before Standard & Poor’s downgraded U.S. debt last month, citing Washington’s political gridlock over reducing its deficit.

“European countries are facing sovereign debt problems,” Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told a World Economic Forum conference last week. “We’ve said countless times that China is willing to give a helping hand, and we’ll continue to invest there.”