French President Nicolas Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni Sarkozy, arrived in China on Wednesday on a trip aiming to improve relations between France and the Asian country after a year and a half of tensions over the issue of Tibet.After visiting the city of Xi'an – one of the four great ancient capitals of China - the president and the first lady met with the Chinese president Hu Jintao.
This is Mr Sarkozy's second official visit to China and the first for Carla – who was charmed by the warm welcome they received as well as the culture of the country. On elegant form as always at the meeting, the glamorous brunette chose a tailored sleeveless black dress that perfectly showed off her model figure, and some criss-cross grid summer sandals in the same colour. Without leaving her husband's side for a moment, Carla became the focus of attention. No doubt conscious of this fact, the Italy-born beauty had on her most radiant smile for the cameras.
During their stay in China, the couple will be soaking up as much culture as possible. They've already been to see the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and their hectic day of meetings culminated with a formal dinner in the Great Hall of the People. There Carla was left open mouthed with amazement as she listened to the PLA Symphony Orchestra Republic play some music from her first album Quelqu'un m'a dit. The musician and actress – who will soon start work on Woody Allen's new film – has confessed to feeling "dazzled" by China.
