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)

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