French President Nicolas Sarkozy is pictured here together with his ese counterpart, Hu Jintao, during the red carpet ceremony in Beijing. Photo by Le Monde
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is leading a delegation of industrialists to China, has signed trade deals worth almost EUR 20 B, French media reported.
These include a delivery of 160 Airbus passenger planes worth about EUR 10 B and a contract of state-owned French energy firm Areva to build two nuclear reactors in China.
"The total amount of these contracts has never been matched before," French President Sarkozy told the Chinese president as they met in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
"France wants to build a complete partnership for the future with China," he added. "China's spectacular development is a chance for the world."
Sarkozy's first visit to the world's fastest-growing major economy comes amid increased tension between the European Union and China, whose trade surplus with the 13 countries sharing the euro ballooned 25 percent in the first eight months of 2007.