¡¡French President Jacques Chirac Saturday invited visiting Chinese President Jiang Zemin to luncheon, kicking off series of their meetings to be held during the visit by the Chinese leader.

¡¡At noon, Chirac and his wife Bernadette arrived first at the "La Tour Rose" restaurant, the venue of the luncheon, and greeted Jiang and his wife Wang Ye-ping at the door when Jiang's car pulled over. They shook hands and took photos together in front of the restaurant.

¡¡In the afternoon, Jiang, accompanied by Chirac, visited Lyon-Satolas airport-railway station complex and took a look at the newliest model of super-speed train.

¡¡The Chinese president and his wife Wang Ye-ping, in the company of the Chirac couple, later flew to Limojes to pay a visit to the hometown of Correze.

¡¡President Jiang who arrived in Lyon Friday from Britain, is currently on a state visit to France, the second leg of his six-nation tour which also includes Portugal, Morocco, Algeria an Saudi Arabia.