By Philip White

(EUNN) London - China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei told reporters in Rome Sunday ahead of the G8 Summit that the dollar would remain the world currency for a long time to come, calling discussions to create a new global reserve currency nothing more than 'academic talk.'

He's comments drew international media attention Sunday considering China's drive to create a new reserve currency over the dollar.

Last March Zhou Xiaochuan, head of the Chinese central bank, spearheaded talks of creating a new world reserve currency after the global economic collapse last year which drew concern over the many shortcomings in the international monetary system.

Yet critics argue that Zhou's comments were nothing more than concerns voiced by Premier Wen Jiabao over China's huge dollar holdings.

Still, it is estimated that the bulk of China's foreign currency reserves are held in dollars.

China itself has openly expressed concern over U.S. policy if inflation is not kept in check.

But even though China's own currency is artificially supported, China has refused to cooperate with U.S. or European requests that the Yuan be uncoupled from the greenback.  If it were, China's currency would lose much of its current value.

A basket of currencies have been proposed in the past in replacing the dollar as the world's reserve currency.  China has eluded to the idea that the yuan could play a key roll if the proposal were to ever gain legs.  But China's own determination to prop up the value of the yuan has defeated its own interests in its currency being part of a global reserve.