France and China have been in talks for the past year as part of an effort by Paris to heighten co-ordination of exchange rates to promote stability of the international monetary system in the wake of the financial crisis.
The talks and their content have been kept secret, in an attempt to draw China into a discussion on global currency co-ordination, a subject that Beijing has been reluctant to countenance in the past.

In an ambitious move reminiscent of the currency accords of the 1980′s, President Nicolas Sarkozy hopes to open a debate on the subject when France takes over the presidency of the G-20 Group of leading nations in November, according to people familiar with the matter.

France has long advocated greater global economic governance. This summer, in a speech to French ambassadors on France’s priorities for the G-20, Mr. Sarkozy called for a “new framework for discussing currency movements”.

Mr. Sarkozy wishes to win Chinese support for a common approach during discussions with Hu Jintao in November, when the Chinese president visits Paris.

The move comes against the background of rising concern over exchange-rate interventions by a host of countries, most notably China but also Japan and South Korea, to prevent their currencies from rising against the USD.—Paul A. Ebeling, Jnr. www.livetradingnews.com

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Oct 3rd, 2010and filed underEurope, News & Events.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site