President Sharkozy ontvangt Chinese president Jintao met alle honeurs met het oog op G20 bijeenkomst in Seoel (en)
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Chinese President Hu Jintao will receive a lavish welcome when he touches down in France on Thursday (4 November), with French President Nicolas Sarkozy hoping stronger ties with Beijing can secure the success of France's tenure at the helm of the G20, set to start later this month.
The French president is to personally greet Mr Hu at the airport, before returning together to the Elysee through Paris with a contingent of the Republican Guard on horseback.
France's G20 ambitions include fighting currency market volatility and trade disagreements, together with successful reform of the world's multilateral institutions such as the IMF. China's increasing economic might means success is strongly linked to keeping Beijing onboard throughout the discussions.
For his part, Mr Hu may be keen to use the French visit to stave off bitter discussion over the value of China's currency at this month's G20 leaders' meeting in Seoul.
China has shown its willingness to act in the G20 forum but is sensitive to losses in sovereign economic decision making, expressly forbidding any mention of the yuan issue in recent final communiques.
Last month's EU-China summit ended in discord following strong argument over the issue. "I say to Europe's leaders - don't join the chorus pressing [China] to revalue the yuan," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told a business forum taking place in the margins of the political meeting.
Others have chimed in. "France's presidency must have the patience to listen to everyone, especially on the reform of the global financial system," deputy foreign minister Fu Ying told Le Figaro newspaper ahead of Mr Hu's visit.
The three-day official tour is also expected to see a record number of commercial contracts signed, including an anticipated major order for passenger planes for European aircraft maker Airbus.
Relations between the two sides have improved over the past year, following a sharp disagreement in 2008 when Mr Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader. Paris has remained quiet following last month's Nobel peace prize for Chinese democracy activist Liu Xiaobo.
Reports suggest that Beijing has embarked on an active campaign to reduce the impact of the Nobel award, with the Chinese Embassy in Oslo sending official letters to a number of European embassies in the Norwegian capital, asking them not to attend the 10 December award ceremony, say unnamed Western diplomats according to AFP.
On Friday, Mr Hu will travel to the Mediterranean port town of Nice, where afternoon talks are expected to centre on foreign affairs, including Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The following day he will fly to Portugal where the government has welcomed earlier statements expressing Beijing's willingness to buy Portuguese sovereign debt. Similar announcements prior to a Chinese official visit to Greece last month point to Beijing's growing use of its huge foreign currency reserves to buy diplomatic support.
Both Portugal and Greece, together with Ireland, are seen as the eurozone's most vulnerable economies.
On Wednesday Portugal's parliament passed a crucial austerity budget to cut the country's high debt levels, after the opposition upheld an agreement with the minority government to abstain from voting.
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