Chinese President Hu Jintao left Beijing Sunday afternoon to pay a state visit to Austria and attend the sixth Group of Twenty (G20) summit, which is scheduled to be held in the southern French city of Cannes from Nov. 3 to 4.

Hu was invited by both Austrian Federal President Heinz Fischer and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which is taking the G20 rotating presidency, according to a written statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Austria diplomatic relations.

During his stay in Austria, Hu will hold talks with his Austrian counterpart Fischer, and meet with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and the Speaker of the Parliament Barbara Prammer, respectively, said Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying on Friday.

He will also attend a trade forum jointly held by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, Fu said.

The two sides will sign seven intergovernmental framework agreements, covering economics and trade, environmental protection, water conservancy, education and culture during President Hu's visit, Fu said.

Regarding the Cannes summit, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai suggested on Friday that the summit should focus on critical economic and financial issues to appropriately address problems such as the sovereign debt crisis in some developed countries and the growing pressure of inflation across the world.

The G20 summit, which groups the world's major economies, becomes a multilateral platform for advancing global economic cooperation.

China hopes that G20 members will get more united, make joint efforts in a democratic and coordinated way, and pursue macro-economic policies that support each other in stabilizing the financial market and restoring market confidence, said the Chinese official.