Last Friday, when I met my colleague Wu Jiao, one of the journalists with President Hu Jintao's delegation to France and Portugal, I offered a joke: "You are in the circle and I am in the second-track."
Chinese President Hu Jintao and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met in the French Rivera on Friday to discuss reforms to the international monetary system, in an apparent effort to coordinate their stance prior to next week's Seoul G20 summit when France will take the helm of the G20 economic grouping.
The state visit by President Hu Jintao to France is set to have a global impact, with the world's media focusing on how the two leaders are strengthening ties between their two powerful nations.
In addition to the multi-billion-dollar deals involving aircraft and nuclear power, people in this Mediterranean seaside city are hoping President Hu Jintao's visit will bring them and their community a slice of good fortune.
When the world hit the lowest point of the financial crisis last year, former French prime minister Michel Rocard warned the West about the danger of ignoring China's role in bringing the global financial system to order.
China and France inked their biggest ever deals on the first day of President Hu Jintao's visit, right after the nations' leaders pledged to cooperate closely as Paris prepares to take over the G20 presidency.
When China began its reform and opening up decades ago, learning Western business management skills took on the same importance as absorbing foreign investment for Chinese executives.
President Hu Jintao arrived in the French capital on Thursday to kick off a three-day state visit, which the French president said will be of the highest reception level.
A little less than a week before President Hu Jintao's visit to France on Thursday, Castries' group is to enter into a partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Co Ltd.
President Hu Jintao departs on Thursday for a four-day European visit to consolidate political and economic ties with the EU bloc while further coordinating China's stance with European counterparts.China, EU see future bilateral ties Special: Hu's EU Visits
MACAO: Leonel Alberto Alves, legislator and member of the Executive Council of Macao special administrative region, is sure he made the right decisions when he stayed on after the handover on Dec 20, 1999, and when he followed that up by becoming a Chinese citizen in 2004.