SYDNEY: East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta said on Wednesday China could help fund a vast fossil fuel project seen as crucial to the Southeast Asian nation's economic future, dismissing Western concerns over Beijing's growing influence.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the island continent's capital Canberra, the president and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-winner said China could be involved in the Greater Sunrise project, which aims to tap trillions of cubic feet of natural gas.