Europe has set its sights on Beijing as it tries to haul itself out of a debt crisis, but many Chinese people are asking why they should bail out wealthier nations that have lived beyond their means.

With $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and an economy that depends heavily on exports to the European Union and the United States, China has both the means and the motive to help Europe in its hour of need.

But as China's own economic growth begins to slow and inflation remains persistently high with surging prices for food and housing, there are fears a major investment in Europe's bailout fund could trigger a domestic backlash.

Already, opposition to such a move is being expressed online on China's hugely popular weibos -- microblogging sites similar to Twitter that now have more than 200 million users -- and in some state media.

"Europe is much richer than China. How can they be short of money? This is clearly a fraud, a robbery," said weibo user Song Hongbing.

Michael Pettis, a professor of finance at Peking University, said the opposition gave China's leaders cause for concern as they consider whether to stump up the large sums of cash Europe needs.

"It's going to be perceived that China is bailing out a bunch of rich foreigners, and politically that's never a popular move," said Pettis, who is also a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Klaus Regling, the head of the European bailout fund, held talks with China's commerce ministry and central bank in Beijing on Friday -- a day after European leaders reached a last-ditch deal to tackle the crisis.

The chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility was reportedly aiming to coax another $100 billion out of China, already a major holder of EFSF bonds, but Beijing has so far been non-committal about further investment.

Details of the form any investment might take remain sketchy, and Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said on Friday that Beijing needed more clarity before it could agree to invest.

China has been burned before on risky overseas investment. It bought stakes in investment bank Morgan Stanley and asset management firm Blackstone only to see values collapse in the 2008 global financial crisis.

The losses led to severe criticism of the investment choices made by China's sovereign wealth fund, only a year after it was established.

"There was a lot of domestic criticism for that, so I think they're sensitive to do it again," Pettis said.

The state-controlled Global Times newspaper, known for its stridently nationalist stance, said Beijing should require concessions in return for cash, such as further market opening for Chinese products and investment.

"A developed Europe turns to China for cash... Many can't understand why China should extend a helping hand," the newspaper said in an editorial on Friday.

Analysts say Beijing may expect Europe to muzzle criticism of its yuan currency, which major trading partners have blasted as undervalued, claiming China's exports enjoy an unfair advantage.

Rescuing developed European countries is a hard sell for the Communist leaders of a country that is still trying to lift tens of millions of people out of grinding poverty.

The world's second-largest economy may not be a democracy, but its leaders cannot ignore its people -- especially now that the Internet has given them a forum to express their anger.

"When will you rescue your own people, feed children in rural areas, find jobs for countless unemployed university graduates, and let the struggling masses afford homes?" posted one of China's more than 500 million Internet users under the name Post-90s Voice.

Europe wants outside help to quadruple the EFSF to one trillion euros ($1.4 trillion), possibly via a special purpose investment vehicle or the International Monetary Fund, where China's influence has grown under recent reforms.

But independent economist Andy Xie, former chief economist for Morgan Stanley, said he expects any Chinese contribution to be "token".

"One cannot give money away in a potential bankrupt situation without influence over restructuring," he said. "China has no control over Europe. How can one throw away money like that?"