China

France welcomes China with massive deals

By Wu Jiao (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-05 11:06

President Hu Jintao and his wife Liu Yongqing (right) are greeted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni (left) at Orly airport near Paris on Thursday at the start of a three-day visit. Charles Platiau / Reuters

PARIS - China inked billions of euros' worth of deals with France during President Hu Jintao's three-day State visit.

Hu and French President Nicolas Sarkozy presided on Thursday over the signing of deals by French and Chinese business leaders. All told, the two nations agreed on deals worth 16 billion euros ($22.8 billion) during the first day of Hu's visit.

Deals included a deal by several Chinese airlines including Air China, China Eastern and China Southern to buy 102 planes from aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

The deals with France are part of China's full-scale push into Europe as it tries to be a major partner with European nations reeling from the global financial crisis. It also signifies that France and China are on solid ground.

Other deals included an agreement for Areva, France's public industrial conglomerate that specializes in nuclear power. Areva will sell 20,000 tons of uranium over a decade to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp.

China also planned to double its trade volume with France from $40 billion to $80 billion by 2015.

The French government described the deals as "by far the most important ever, either during visits by Chinese leaders to Europe or European leaders to China".

In 2007, when Sarkozy visited Beijing, French companies netted contracts worth more than $20 billion.

In a formal dinner Thursday night, Hu told his French audience that the two countries have agreed to develop "a strategic partnership of equals". Hu also said that as the two countries are both members of the United Nations Security Council and the G20, their common interests are greater than ever.

Hu told Sarkozy during the dinner that China "supports France in its efforts to ensure the success of the G20 summit next year".

France has promised China that it was always in support of lifting the EU arms embargo on China. It has also pledged for more cooperation with China globally as China plays an "indispensable" part in world affairs.

"France wants to have China closely associated with the presidency of the G20," Sarkozy said.

As Hu touched down in Paris on noon on Thursday, France put on an extravagant program of events and ceremonies for his visit, with red carpets rolled out across the yard of France's presidential palace and China's national flag lining the major streets of Paris.

Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni came to the airport to receive their Chinese guests with full military honors, considered an exceptional gesture by the Elysee Palace, the official residence of Sarkozy's.

There was also a dinner between the two presidents with both of their wives on Thursday, a visit to the Arc de Triomphe and a cozy meal at a restaurant in Nice on Friday.

France was the first nation from the West to forge diplomatic ties with the People's Republic of China. But ties between France and China have been tense in recent years following a number of diplomatic spats. Sarkozy and Hu patched up relations during a visit by the French leader to Beijing in April.

"The path of Sino-French ties shows that countries with different ideologies, political institutions and cultural backgrounds can coexist and cooperate for mutual benefit so long as they respect each other and treat each other as equals," Hu said.

On Saturday, Hu flies to Portugal where more deals are expected to be signed.

France and China also agreed to increase the number of exchange students. China announced it will invite about 500 French youths to visit China during the next five years.

China Daily