Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has stressed the urgency of ongoing efforts to curb Iran's nuclear programme.
Sarkozy, who is on a three-day visit to China, said that while he understands Beijing's wish to have dialogue and engage with Iran, stronger actions should be taken if dialogue does not achieve results.
"China hopes to give dialogue every opportunity, France understands this," he said at a joint press briefing with Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, in the Chinese capital, Beijing, on Wednesday.
"The whole question is to examine at what point the absence of constructive dialogue, must lead to sanctions in order to enhance constructive dialogue. Everyone is convinced that moment is approaching."
Sarkozy's visit was billed as a return to healthy diplomatic relations between the two countries after spats over Tibet.
France, and two other permanent UN security council members, Britain and the US, have been pressing for a fourth round of UN penalties on Iran for its refusal to halt a key part of its nuclear programme that could be used to make weapons.
Iran says it only wants the technology to produce nuclear power.
China and Russia, also permanent members of the security council, have important commercial links to Iran and have been reluctant to support new sanctions.
Relations between France and China collapsed in 2008 after protests by exiled Tibetans and other activists during the Olympic torch's passage through Paris and Sarkozy's talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
Mend relations
Hu told Sarkozy that he was "willing to further expand China-France relations through a deep exchange of views".
Besides Iran, Sarkozy and Hu were expected to discuss Afghanistan, Pakistan, North Korea and Myanmar, a French official said on Tuesday.
The two leaders said they also discussed reforms of the international financial system, agreeing that instituting more controls was key to preventing another global financial crisis like the one in 2008 that revealed flaws in financial regulation.
Hu said that China believes that the emphasis in the reform of the international financial system should be focused on strengthening financial controls.
"We believe the global financial crisis has not changed the long-term momentum of global economic growth," he said.