France demands tougher G20 rules
 Barack Obama has praised Gordon Brown's "integrity" as the two men vowed to work together to tackle the "unprecedented" global recession.
Speaking after two hours of talks, the US president said there was "enormous consensus" on tackling the crisis.
And he rejected talk of splits ahead of the G20 summit of world leaders.
The official business of the G20 starts later at a working dinner in No 10, at which Mr Brown will sit next to the presidents of China and Indonesia.
Mr Brown and President Obama appeared relaxed as they faced reporters in Downing Street, with Mr Brown praising Mr Obama's presidency as giving "renewed hope" to the world.
Mr Obama hailed the "special relationship" between Britain and the UK and the "kinship" he felt with Great Britain.
Great symmetry
Both men played down reports of a rift between different countries on the best way to rescue the world economy.
Mr Brown said: "President Obama and I are agreed about the significance of this week's G20 meeting that the world is coming together to act in the face of unprecedented global financial times."
He rejected reports French President Nicholas Sarkozy was ready to walk out of Thursday's summit, telling reporters in Downing Street: "We are within a few hours of agreeing a global plan for economic recovery and reform."
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G20 LONDON SUMMIT
World leaders are meeting this week in London to discuss measures to tackle the downturn. See
our in-depth guide
to the G20 summit. The G20 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US and the EU.
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Mr Obama said there had been "great symmetry" between the US and UK in their discussions on the best way to deal with the economic crisis.
"I am absolutely confident that the United States as a peer of these other countries will help to lead us through these very difficult times."
Asked what advice he had for Mr Brown about winning elections, Mr Obama said that whatever the problems faced, "good policy" would win out "over time".
He told Mr Brown to continue showing "integrity" and to be sure that "every day you are waking up and making the very best decisions that you can despite the fact that sometimes the cards in your hand are not very good and the options are narrow".
'Appalling debt'
But he stopped short of wishing the England football team good luck in its World Cup qualifier against Ukraine, saying: "The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European football. That would be a mistake. I didn't get a briefing on that, but I think that would be a mistake."
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David Cameron, after meeting Barack Obama
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The president later met Tory leader David Cameron at the US Ambassador's residence.
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