BEIJING (AP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Beijing briefly Thursday to discuss the economic woes troubling the world with his Chinese counterpart.
Sarkozy said the talks would focus on economic problems. He did not give details, but they were likely to include the euro zone debt crisis, as well as the war in Libya.
"It is very clear as president of the G-20 that I can't imagine not coming to China to speak with my Chinese friends on the great economic questions that worry the world," he said at the start of a meeting with Hu Jintao in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
He said the two would talk about an upcoming G-20 summit of heads of state in the French city of Cannes in November.
"The G-20 summit must be conclusive, must be decisive, and must play its part in the revival of global growth. ... It's a major task and China plays an essential role," he said.
Sarkozy will be in Beijing for about five hours before heading to the South Pacific archipelago of New Caledonia, a French territory.
Hu said it was crucial that the two countries work together to tackle the debt crisis.
"Sino-French dialogue is of great importance so that the Cannes meeting of the G-20 can promote international cooperation and the healthy development of the world economy," he said.
China has been supportive of European countries as they tackle a spiraling debt crisis that has been hanging over them, with worries about defaults that would domino through the banking industry.
Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany held emergency talks in Paris earlier this month but failed to take immediate financial measures seen by many investors as the only way to halt the debt crisis, which has dragged on for nearly two years and resulted in a string of sovereign bailouts worth hundreds of billions of euros.
Neither Sarkozy nor Hu mentioned Libya in their comments to reporters before their talks and a working dinner, but the war there was expected to be discussed.
So far, China has been seen to be less supportive of the rebels who ousted Moammar Gadhafi than France and other countries such as Britain and the United States.
China, which has been invited to next week's Paris international conference on Libya's future, sharply criticized the NATO-led air campaign against Gadhafi's forces and refused to condemn the dictator.
China has called on the United Nations to take the lead in post-conflict arrangements in the oil-rich country.
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