In a German two-piece documentary [History of fantasy][1] Herman Weigel, one of the screenwriters of *Neverending Story*, talks about his work on the film.
In the 15th minute of the second episode he says:

> Falkor is based on Chinese dragons.

He doesn't specify if he means that they based the film version of Falkor on Eastern-type dragons or that the book version is already based on them.

Regarding the book I didn't find any sources citing Michael Ende himself. However it should be noted that Falkor's name, appeareance and behaviour contains many hints regarding the author's inspirations. This has been summarised [on this page][2]:

> Falkor’s name in the original German novel is “Fuchur” which was
> apparently derived from the Japanese word fukuryū. Fuku meaning
> “happiness, luck” and Ryū meaning “dragon”. And so we have Falkor
> being the luckdragon in Fantastica. But fukuryū has been mentioned as
> meaning “hidden dragon” or “crouching dragon” as well.
> 
> (...) aside from the meaning of his name, he also shares physical
> attributes with Japanese dragons. Falkor is long, slender, serpentine,
> bearded, and a combination of various animals, and has 3 claws on each
> foot. Where he differs, at least in the film’s depiction, is that he’s
> covered in fur and has a canine head. Mostly to make him more
> appealing to the audience. In the book, however, Falkor’s body is
> covered in pink and white scales and he has an impressive mane around
> a lion-like head. Falkor was considered pure, warm, and a creature of
> air, which was why he didn’t need wings in order to fly. He could also
> spew forth a blue flame when needed.


  [1]: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11173374/
  [2]: https://mythsterhood.com/the-neverending-falkor/