France and China on Monday hailed their reinvigorated ties, putting a spat over Tibet behind them and sealing a series of 12 economic deals worth about $9 billion during a visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
France
and
China
on
Monday hailed their reinvigorated ties, putting a spat over
Tibet
behind them and sealing a series of 12 economic deals worth about $9 billion
during a visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Fillon's high-profile visit came on the heels of the marathon climate change
talks in
Copenhagen
, at
which
China
came
in for sharp criticism -- notably from the Europeans -- for rejecting any move
to quantify mid-century emissions cuts.
The French premier, accompanied by a high-level delegation of key ministers and
top business leaders, witnessed the signing of the deals with counterpart Wen
Jiabao after the two held talks at the Great Hall of the People.
Wen said both sides had agreed to push forward their "comprehensive
strategic partnership", adding: "Even though it is our first meeting
in person, I feel like we are friends."
Fillon replied: "Our two countries' partnership is unmatched. Our
partnership is long and enduring."
French aerospace and defence industries group Safran and U.S. conglomerate
General Electric (GE) have won a multi-billion-dollar contract to equip China's
future C919 passenger jet with engines, Safran's chief executive Jean-Paul
Herteman said.
The deal, signed on Monday, would be worth $5 billion dollars to each partner
in the Franco-U.S. joint venture, and could possibly be worth $15 billion over
30 years, Herteman told reporters ahead of the signing.
The C919 -- built by state-linked Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China
(COMAC) and due to be ready for service in about 2016, according to state media
-- is seen as a future competitor to the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 737.
Earlier, Electricite de France (EDF) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company
(CGNPC) formalized their joint venture for the construction of two reactors at
a power plant in Taishan in southern
Guangdong
province.
EDF holds a 30% stake in the new company, Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint
Venture Company Ltd., and CGNPC holds the remaining 70%.
French nuclear group Areva is to provide the third-generation European Pressurized
Reactors (EPRs) for the plant, under a multi-billion-dollar deal signed in
November 2007.
Chinese state news agency Xinhua said the other deals signed covered
cooperation in areas such as culture and water resources.
Fillon tiptoed around the
Copenhagen
issue, describing the deal reached as a "key step" in the fight on
global warming while admitting that he had hoped for more.
"
France
, like
all of the European Union, would have wanted the Copenhagen Accord to go a bit
further. But there is an agreement," the French premier said.
Wen later defended
China
's
role in
Copenhagen
,
calling it "important and constructive."
In total, 12 agreements were signed and Fillon will leave
China
on
Tuesday with 6.3 billion euros ($9 billion) worth of contracts signed, a source
close to the talks said.
Relations between the two nations deteriorated last year when the
Paris
leg
of
China
's
Olympic torch relay was disrupted by pro-Tibet protesters.
They hit a low point in December 2008 when French President Nicolas Sarkozy met
the Dalai Lama,
Tibet
's
exiled spiritual leader, whom
Beijing
accuses of seeking independence for the Himalayan region -- a claim he denies.
Four months later, though, the two countries were officially reconciled on the
sidelines of a G20 meeting in
London
, and
Sarkozy subsequently invited Chinese President Hu Jintao to visit
France
.
Fillon was to wrap up his visit to
China
on
Tuesday. He was scheduled to meet Hu and parliamentary speaker Wu Bangguo.
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