China's President Hu Jintao arrived Sunday in Vienna for a state visit ahead of a crucial G20 meeting in France, amid hopes that Beijing may lend a helping hand to the debt-stricken EU.

Hu's visit to Europe, his second in a year, comes after EU leaders last week appealed to China to invest in the region's debt rescue fund to help it overcome a spiralling debt crisis.

Klaus Regling, the head of the bailout fund -- the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) -- also travelled to Beijing to strike a deal with the world's second-largest economy, reportedly seeking a pledge of $100 billion.

But while Hu welcomed a last-ditch agreement by EU leaders Thursday to tackle the crisis, Beijing has officially remained non-committal about its involvement.

On Friday, Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai said the G20 summit, which Hu will attend in the French resort of Cannes on November 3-4, should focus on the sovereign debt crisis in "developed countries" and the growing pressure of global inflation.

Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao however played down hopes of a breakthrough at the G20 meeting, insisting investment in the European bailout fund was not on the agenda.

Before Cannes, Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing are paying a two-day state visit to Austria with business and sight-seeing on the agenda.

The official visit begins Monday, when the couple will be received with military honours at the Imperial Palace by Austrian President Heinz Fischer and his wife Margit.

This will be followed by talks between the two leaders and the signing of bilateral agreements.

A state banquet and meetings with Chancellor Werner Faymann and parliament speaker Barbara Prammer were also planned.

Tuesday will be dedicated to sightseeing, with a visit to the scenic Salzkammergut region, a short lake cruise in St Gilgen, and a classical concert at the former Salzburg home of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

WPP sees China becoming second biggest market
Shanghai (AFP) Oct 30, 2011 - The head of the world's largest advertising group, WPP, said Sunday that China will become its second biggest market, even if the country's economic growth slows from a blistering nine percent.

"I would anticipate that China would become our third market quite quickly and within a few years will be our second largest market," visiting WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell told AFP in Shanghai.

Currently, China is fourth in terms of revenue, behind the United States, Britain and Germany, he said. Annual revenue in greater China -- which includes Hong Kong and Taiwan -- was expected to be $1.1 billion in 2011.

"Whether it's nine percent, or eight percent, or seven percent -- whatever the (China's) growth rate is -- that's far more attractive than struggling with one percent or two percent," he said.

China's economic growth eased to 9.1 percent in the third quarter from 9.5 percent in the second quarter as government efforts to tame inflation and economic turbulence in Europe and the United States curbed activity.

Sorrell said a just-ended Communist Party meeting that vowed to boost culture could help create opportunity.

At that meeting, China's leaders agreed guidelines aimed at preserving "cultural security" and expanding Chinese soft power.

"There's a lot to be said for state-directed capitalism," Sorrell said.

"If the government thinks how people live and how happy they are is important... they will make the investments, whether it's stimulating the film industry or the entertainment industry."

However, advertising clients are worried about a recent move by China to replace popular television entertainment with so-called "healthy" programming.

Under government orders, the nation's leading 34 satellite broadcasters would be barred next year from airing "excessive entertainment" and forced to show at least two hours of news each evening, state media has said.

The move could drive up advertising rates, but the main state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) would be a beneficiary, Sorrell said.