Hu expressed the wish that France would proceed from long-term interests of mutually beneficial cooperation to continue to play an active role in promoting practical cooperation between China and the European Union (EU).

Fillon congratulated China on the success of the Shanghai World Expo, saying it fully reflected the prospect of China's development.

He said the state visit paid by the Chinese president to France came at a critical moment of the development of France-China and EU-China relations and that the visit was a great honor for the French people.

He said France always respected China and was glad to see the unprecedented achievements that China had made in development.

China's development was important both for itself and the world, and China's development was not only related to the Chinese people, but also to peoples of other countries, he said.

Noting that both China and Europe faced many major challenges, Fillon said France and Europe were ready to carry out all-round cooperation with China.

Fillon said, as the rotating chair of the G20 next year, France was ready to work with China to address the problems of unbalanced growth, global governance and international financial supervision.

He said, since the human beings had already made huge progress, they should resolve various problems through establishing partnerships and cooperating.

Fillon said France supported all-round cooperation between the EU and China, noting that France was ready to work with China to explore new channels of developing France-China and EU-China relations.

The French prime minister fully agreed with Hu on his propositions for strengthening bilateral practical cooperation.

Fillon said France was ready to adopt a long-term vision to strengthen cooperation with China in priority areas of energy, environmental protection, sustainable growth, aviation and space.

He said France was ready to expand cooperation with China in culture and people-to-people exchanges to form a long-term partnership between the two sides.

Also on Friday, President Hu met with former French President Jacques Chirac in Paris.