Europe should first use its own resources to resolve the debt crisis before seeking help from outsiders, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Monday, November 14.

"Generally we first need to see a very substantial commitment from European - and I'm talking about the euro zone - before any more could be asked of non-European (G20) countries," Flaherty said when asked about conversations he'd had with Chinese officials about European requests for external aid to solve its debt crisis.

He also said the Group of 20 leaders' meeting earlier this month that agreed to quicken a move toward market-driven exchange rates, including in China, was a "significant move" in the right direction.

"This is progress," he added, Reuters reported.

Flaherty was in Beijing to open the Beijing representative office of TSX, meet with senior officials from China and give a speech to the Canada China Business Council.