Hu seeks eurozone stability
Updated: 2011-11-03 07:21
By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
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 A security cordon has been thrown up around the French resort of Cannes as world leaders arrive for a critical summit amid pessimism about the global economy. [Photo by Sebastien Nogier/Agence France-Presse]
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President meets IMF chief ahead of critical G20 summit
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CANNES, France - China wants eurozone stability, President Hu Jintao said in an interview published on Wednesday ahead of the G20 summit in the French city of Cannes.
China "sincerely wishes to see stability in the eurozone and the euro", Hu told the French newspaper Le Figaro.
The president also called on G20 leaders to "send a clear message of solidarity" and give priority to economic growth in the face of global economic challenges.
With both the US and EU burdened by heavy debt and a bleak economic outlook, China finds itself under the spotlight to help stabilize the global economy and tackle the eurozone debt crisis. But China is also cautious amid domestic pressure and an ever-changing global economy.
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According to the Le Figaro report, Hu said G20 leaders should strive to "strengthen the coordination of macroeconomic policies (and) press ahead with the reform of the global monetary and financial system".
Hu met with Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), on Wednesday in Cannes.
The two discussed the global economy, the reform of the international monetary system and the role of the IMF, a foreign ministry official said, without elaborating on details.
Hu's meeting with Lagarde, his first official meeting in Cannes, was interpreted by some Western observers as being solely a discussion on helping to rescue the eurozone.
Yet Chinese diplomats said its timing was purely coincidental and the meeting concentrated on China-IMF cooperation.
