Paris to extend warm invitation to President Hu

Paris plans to invite President Hu Jintao to France, a move that will further mend relations with Beijing.

National Assembly of France President Bernard Accoyer is in China and will officially invite Hu to visit France by the end of the year, an official with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said in Paris on Monday.

Relations between Beijing and Paris hit a low after Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama in December, during France's tenure of the European Union presidency, despite China's repeated protests. China and France then went through one of the coldest winters in their 45-year-old diplomatic relations.