国际英语新闻：Brown, Obama agree on global action to fight economic crisis

LONDON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed that a global solution is needed for the current financial crisis during their meeting here on Wednesday.

    "President Obama and I agreed today that the actions we take are global solutions required for global problems," Brown said at a joint press conference following their meeting.

    Brown said they also agreed that there will be no sustainable recovery before the banks are cleaned up and a new regulatory system is put into place.

    Obama said he had high expectations for a concerted effort at the G20 Summit in London.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) speaks during a press conference held jointly with United States President Barack Obama in London April 1, 2009. Brown held talks with Obama at No. 10 Downing Street in London on April 1. Both leaders will attend the Summit of the Group of 20 Countries on Financial Markets and World Economy, to be held in London on April 2.

    "I am absolutely confident that this meeting will reflect enormous consensus about the need to work in concert to deal with these problems," he said, adding that his meeting with Brown was "productive."

    Ahead of the summit which will bring leaders from the world's major economies together, Brown and Obama tried to play down trans-Atlantic differences.

    "I know that G20 nations are appropriately pursuing their own approaches ... We're not going to agree on every point," Obama said.

    "I came here to put forward ideas but I also came here to listen, not to lecture. Having said that, we must not miss an opportunity to lead, to confront a crisis that knows no borders," he added.

    Among the differences, is a rift over the summit's priorities.

    Washington wants to use the summit to first address the deepening economic crisis, pressing European Union (EU) countries to boost their fiscal stimulus packages for the good of a global recovery. This has been firmly rejected by Germany and France.

    Instead, EU countries, led by Germany and France, have stressed that the focus of the summit should be on international financial reform, saying it is essential to prevent a reoccurrence of the financial crisis and help restore confidence in the financial markets.

    However, Obama said media reports of the disagreements are "vastly overstated," and called for joint action in the face of the worst economic crisis in decades.

    "We can only meet this challenge together," Obama said. "All of us in London have a responsibility to act with a sense of urgency."

    Brown, too, sought to play up the consensus, saying that leaders were "within a few hours, I think, of agreeing to a global plan for economic recovery and reform."

    However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday that he was unhappy with "projects on the table" at the G20 Summit.

    "In the current state of things, the proposals do not suit France or Germany," Sarkozy told Europe 1 radio. "No agreement is secured. I know by experience that we will need to fight until the last minute."

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was worried there would not be a firm agreement on financial reform at the meeting.

    "I am traveling to London with a mixture of confidence and concern," Merkel said, adding she agreed with Sarkozy's insistence that no "false compromise" will be accepted.

    "What the French president has in view is that we should not dodge and make feeble compromises on the financial market constitution of the future," Merkel said. "I support him there."