NICE, France, Nov 6, (AFP) - France's President Nicolas Sarkozy was celebrating a diplomatic victory Saturday after winning Chinese support for his upcoming G20 presidency and plans for global financial reform.
China's President Hu Jintao was wrapping up a three-day state visit with a factory tour on the French Riviera, after successful talks the night before with the French leader in the resort town of Nice.
There were small-scale protests by human rights activists during the tour, but French officials regard the outcome of the meetings as a success, having also secured more than 20 billion dollars in contracts for French firms.
According to a French presidential adviser, Hu and Sarkozy reached a “true convergence of views” in their talks on France's plans for when it assumes the rotating presidency of the G20 group of economic powers next week.
Analysts do not expect China to give much ground on calls for it to allow its currency to appreciate in order to rebalance global trade flows, but without Hu's cautious endorsement Sarkozy's plans would be dead in the water. |
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