Highlights of Chinese president´s G20 tour

Source: Xinhua | 04-02-2009 16:01

BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The following are highlights of the Group of 20 (G20) tour by Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with French  President Nicolas Sarkozy during their meeting in London,  Britain, on April 1, 2009.(Xinhua/Li Xueren)

LONDON -- Hu met with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy here Wednesday night ahead of the G20 summit scheduled for Thursday.

"Our meeting today means a new starting point for the bilateral relations, and I hope the two sides work together to usher in a new phase in Chinese-French ties," Hu said at the start of his meeting with Sarkozy.

Hu said China did not want to see "severe difficulties" that had emerged in bilateral relations a few months before.

"China appreciates France's latest move and feels happy about the restoration of bilateral relations," Hu said.

Sarkozy said no matter how France-China relations change, he believed there is only one China in the world, and that Taiwan and Tibet are alienable parts of the Chinese territories.

China and France said in a press communique issued Wednesday simultaneously by their foreign ministries that the two sides "attach great importance to China-France relations" and reiterated their adherence to the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

In the communique, France pledged not to support "Tibet independence" in any form.