China, France join forces for world monetary reform

by Roland Lloyd Parry

NICE, France, Nov 6, (AFP) - China and France have joined forces to push for reform of the global monetary system when France takes the helm of the G20 economic grouping next week.

They reached a "true convergence of views" on France's reform plans in talks between President Nicolas Sarkozy and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao in the Mediterranean city of Nice, a senior French presidential adviser said Friday.

Sarkozy later said he also broached the sensitive topic of human rights, following complaints by activists that he was avoiding the subject so as not to offend Hu given the high economic and diplomatic stakes of the visit.

Speaking to reporters as he arrived at a chic restaurant near the Nice seafront for a dinner with Hu, Sarkozy said the two discussed "all subjects... without taboos."

Pressed on whether he had brought up the question of human rights, Sarkozy replied: "Certainly. President Hu Jintao is someone you can talk with."

Activists and political opponents had criticised Sarkozy for not speaking up in favour of the jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last month in a move that enraged Beijing.

Having overseen billions of dollars-worth of Franco-Chinese trade deals, Sarkozy was seeking China's backing for his plans for financial reform when he takes over the G20 presidency at a summit in South Korea next week.

"There is a true convergence of views between China and France on the aims to be achieved and the route and means necessary to achieve this reform," a presidential adviser told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official added the two leaders also agreed to hold a gathering of monetary experts in China at an unspecified date, "probably in the spring" of 2011.

Hu said on Thursday that he supported Sarkozy in his G20 plans, but few concrete details have been announced. Sarkozy has previously called for measures to end volatility in exchange rates and commodities prices.

Sarkozy told journalists that they discussed the "really necessary reforms of the international monetary system and regulation of commodities prices to try to have a world that is more balanced, more stable."

Asked by a journalist whether he is optimistic about the chances of success, Sarkozy said: "Optimistic? That's really difficult because we are confronted with subjects that are very, very complex.

"But the ambition of France is that everyone agrees to sit around a table to lay the groundwork for a new system that guarantees the stability of the world."

France and China have had tense ties in recent years, notably over French meetings with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, but they maintain important economic ties and relations have warmed since 2009.