Sarkozy hoping to make headway on the nuclear standoff in talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao when the two met privately Wednesday at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

“China hopes to use dialogue to solve this problem.

France completely understands China, and we are willing to discuss this problem together at an appropriate time, but if dialogue does not work then we can only use sanctions,” Sarkozy said at a joint news conference with Hu after their meeting at the start of his three-day visit.

“Everyone thinks this must be solved right now,” he added.

Three permanent UN Security Council members — France, Britain and the US — have been pressing for a fourth round of UN penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt a key part of its nuclear program that could be used to make weapons. Iran says it only wants the technology to produce nuclear power.

China and Russia —which also have permanent Security Council seats — have important commercial links to Iran and have been reluctant to support new sanctions.

Sarkozy's visit to China is being billed as a return to healthy diplomatic relations between the two countries after spats over Tibet. Relations nose-dived in 2008 after protests by exiled Tibetans and other activists during the Olympic torch's passage through Paris and Sarkozy's talks with Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

Hu told Sarkozy while reporters were present that he was “willing to further expand China-France relations through a deep exchange of views.” Earlier Wednesday, Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, visited the life-size terracotta warriors at the famed ancient tomb of China's first emperor in the western city of Xi'an.

Besides Iran, Sarkozy and Hu were expected to discuss Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea and Myanmar, a French official said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

The two leaders said they also discussed reforms of the international financial system, agreeing that instituting more controls was key to preventing another global financial crisis like the one in 2008 that revealed flaws in financial regulation.

“China believes the emphasis in the reform of the international financial system should be on strengthening financial controls,” Hu said to reporters.

“We believe the global financial crisis has not changed the long-term momentum of global economic growth,” Hu said. Countries should strengthen coordination among economies and oppose protectionism to maintain the momentum of global economic growth, he said.