France's Macron, China's Jinping say G20 summit needed to combat virus

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed a summit of the G20 group of nations to coordinate the world's economic and public health response to the coronavirus outbreak are necessary, Macron's office said on Monday.

The two leaders spoke on the phone earlier on Monday and agreed the summit, which could be held via videoconference "rapidly", would need to involve the World Health Organization as well to work jointly on vaccines and treatments, a French presidency official told Reuters.