Paris - Following a first round of voting Sunday in the French presidential elections, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande have emerged as the leading candidates who will face off in a decisive second round on May 6.

Hollande won the first round with 28.56 percent of the vote, followed by Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) candidate Sarkozy's 27.07 in the April 22 voting, according to returns issued by the interior ministry.

According to French election laws, if no candidate gains at least 50 percent of the votes in the first round, the two highest-scoring candidates will have a run-off a fortnight later.

After the returns, Sarkozy supporters still held out hopes for a win.

"We think the election of Sarkozy is still possible now. It is difficult, but possible. It will depend on the dynamic of the second round," said Senate vice-president Jean-Pierre Raffarin, a Sarkozy supporter.

"In the second round of voting, the candidates will be compared in terms of what they are best at: best project, best personality, best solutions. It is a very different election," Raffarin explained.

The capacity to deal with emerging economies should be a major job description for the next French president, as the solutions to the pressing challenges facing the French depend largely on relations with external partners in a globalized world, Raffarin said.

"Sarkozy meets such demanding requirements compared with other candidates and his main competitor," Raffarin told China Daily.

"He knows the 'new world', what we call the emerging countries very well", and especially in promoting stronger links with China and other emerging economies, said the veteran French politician.

Raffarin said Sarkozy's "global vision" helped push forward the G20 in addressing the global financial crisis in 2008. Last year, the G20 summit was held in Cannes.

Hollande, on the other hand, has no such international experience, Raffarin said, although he has worked very hard for the French Socialist Party.

"The man has never been minister of France. He has never been in charge of European affairs and has never been in multilateral actions, " Raffarin said.

With the current financial difficulties in Europe, France needs to have a president who is experienced in international affairs, he said.

However, Raffarin admitted, with "the difficulties in our country, in our democracy, the French people are not very interested in international affairs but they are very focused on domestic affairs."

"That is the reason why it is not easy for Mr. Sarkozy," he added.

In the meantime, Socialist party chief Jean-Marc Ayrault said Sarkozy's five-year term "has weakened France, with public debt and the unemployment rate rising, the trade deficit expanding, increasing inequality; and decreasing efficiency in our educational system."

Ayrault said his party's candidate, Hollande, has a very clear objective to balance the budget by 2017, the end of his five-year presidential term. "This is a very strong commitment," said Ayrault. "At the same time, instead of breaking off the growth, we create a new growth."

"He (Hollande) wants to reduce the debt and the deficit, to improve the country's budget and explore new initiatives to bring growth," said Ayrault.

That is why Hollande "must win and it is a necessity", he added.

As to international experience, Ayrault said Hollande would negotiate with European partners to bring back growth in Europe. "It is important for the world: it is important for us," he said.

Hollande is keen to deepen Sino-French relations and will visit China after he wins the election, Ayrault told China Daily prior to Sunday's ballot.

Tan Xuan contributed to this story