Chinese president meets French counterpart Sarkozy

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Thursday afternoon met with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, who is on a five-hour trip to Beijing. "Your visit reflects the height of China-France strategic cooperation," Hu told Sarkozy at the start of their meeting at the Great Hall of the People. Hu said stronger China-France coordination and cooperation will play an important part in pushing forward positive results from the Group of 20 nations (G20) summit, boosting international economic cooperation and promoting the sound recovery of the world economy. Sarkozy said the G20 summit in Cannes must make decisions to propel the early recovery of the world economy. "That is a crucial issue, in which China can play a very important role," he said. France, which currently holds the G20 chairmanship, will host the G20 summit in Cannes in November.