China on Tuesday again called on France to take concrete action to respond to its grave concerns in an active, explicit and direct way, so as to create essential conditions to put soured bilateral ties back on a normal track.

"The development of China-France relations is the trend of times and the common aspiration of the two peoples," Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular press briefing Tuesday.

Qin was replying to a reporter's question on whether Chinese President Hu Jintao and French President Nicolas Sarkozy would meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit scheduled for April 2 in London.

Qin said China always attached great importance to the development of bilateral ties and was willing to work with the French people supportive of and dedicated to China-France friendly cooperation.

"China and France, as two important countries, should cooperate in tackling the spreading financial crisis," he said.

Relations hit a low after French President Nicolas Sarkozy held a private meeting with the Dalai Lama last year in Poland when France held the rotating presidency of the European Union. China postponed the 11th China-EU Summit and lodged a strong protest against the meeting, saying it "severely undermined China's core interests".

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2009)