Wen says world must stop finance woes

By Chris Buckley and Jason Subler

BEIJING (Reuters) - Governments must do whatever is needed, and without delay, to limit damage to the global economy from the crisis ravaging financial markets, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday.

Speaking after a summit of 43 Asian and European leaders, Wen also signalled that China would back France's drive for tougher global financial rules at a crisis summit that U.S. President George W. Bush will convene next month in Washington.

"We must use every means to prevent the financial crisis impacting growth of the real economy," Wen told a news conference following a two-day Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of the 27 EU member states and 16 Asian countries.

Wen said China would actively participate in the November 15 summit with a "responsible and pragmatic" attitude.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said he expected concrete decisions to come out of the Washington talks, which had to address the underlying causes of the crisis, not just their effects.

"We have all understood that it will not be possible to simply meet and have a discussion. We need to turn it into a decision-making forum," he told the news conference.

"It is simply impossible to talk about taxes and the financial crisis without talking about currencies and the way they interact. All of this is of course going to be discussed."

Sarkozy has told Chinese President Hu Jintao that he fears the United States, which is wary of excessive regulation, would be content if the summit produced "principles and generalities," according to a French presidential official.