World leaders are now in Saint Petersburg for the Group of Twenty Leaders' Summit. Ahead of the event, Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with top officials from other countries, and exchanged views on variety of issues.

A flurry of meetings ahead of the summit.

On Thursday, President Xi Jinping held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The two leaders discussed strategic coordination on international and regional affairs, the Syria crisis and efforts to combat flooding in the northeast of China and Russia’s Far East. They aslo discussed cooperation on large-scale projects. This is the second time they met after Xi Jinping took office in March this year.

In a meeting with his Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez, Xi Jinping called for joint efforts to safeguard the interests of emerging economies and developing countries. The two sides vowed to expand cooperation on energy, mining, hydropower, infrastructure and finance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Argentine counterpart Cristina Fernandez in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

Xi Jinping also met with Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff. Xi Jinping said China and Brazil should strengthen coordination to oppose trade protectionism and safeguard common interests of emerging markets. Xi Jinping also called for more cooperation in energy, mining, agriculture and infrastructure. Rousseff said emerging markets need to step up joint efforts to urge certain countries to adopt responsible economic policies and promote the reform of international financial system.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 5, 2013. (Xinhua/Ding Lin)

As well as meeting world leaders, the Chinese President also met the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Roberto Azevedo. Xi Jinping urged the WTO to play a bigger role in safeguarding and consolidating a multilateral trade mechanism. China hopes the WTO will push through the stalemate in the Doha round of global trade talks, oppose trade protectionism and boost liberalization of global trade. Azevedo said the WTO is willing to strengthen cooperation with China, and promote the Bali meeting later this year.

On Wednesday, Xi Jinping met with his Mexican counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto. Xi Jinping wants to speed up negotiations to set up a China-Mexico investment fund. And he says China is willing to work with Mexico to establish a China-Latin America cooperation forum. Pena Nieto says Mexico hopes to expand two-way trade with China and will take steps to improve market access for Chinese goods. The two leaders agreed to coordinate action at the summit. Their goals are to safeguard the momentum of the world economic recovery, and increase the voice and influence of emerging economies in global economic governance.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sept. 4, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]

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