China Premier says hopeful on U.S., EU, world economies

BEIJING (Reuters) - China Premier Wen Jiabao said on Monday he was optimistic about the outlook for the U.S., European and world economies.

Wen, who was speaking to a group of foreign company executives at a meeting in Beijing, also said he was "surprised and shocked" when he saw oil prices exceeding $100 a barrel this year, according to a pool report.

He said unrest in the Middle East and loose monetary policies in "some countries" had caused the spike in energy prices.

(Reporting by Reuters Beijing; Editing by Simon Rabinovitch)