Google – AFP, Marianne BARRIAUX (AFP), 26 March 2014
Chinese
president Xi Jinping (R) waves as he leaves the institute of
multinational
biotechnology company BioMerieux, on March 26, 2014 in
Marcy l'Etoile near Lyon
(AFP, Robert Pratta)
|
Lyon —
Chinese President Xi Jinping was set Wednesday to sign a series of major
business deals on the second day of a lavish state visit to France.
Xi is to
hold talks with French counterpart Francois Hollande, after which a raft of
trade agreements are expected to be announced.
The
three-day visit, which comes on the 50th year of full diplomatic ties, ends
with a concert Thursday at the Versailles palace, built by Louis XIV and a
symbol of absolute monarchy that ended with the 1789 French revolution.
Chinese
president Xi Jinpin (C) tastes
wine from local producers before a
dinner at the
town hall in Lyon, central
France, on March 25, 2014 (POOL/
AFP, Laurent
Cipriani)
|
Xi and his
glamorous singer wife Peng Liyuan began the French leg of their trip in the
eastern city of Lyon, a former silk centre that forged enduring links with
China from the 16th century.
"My
visit to France... will allow me to work with President Francois Hollande... to
sum up 50 years of Sino-French relations and to plan the future together,"
Xi said at an official dinner.
On
Wednesday, the couple visited bioMerieux, a French diagnostics firm run by a
prominent Lyon business dynasty that has old trade links with China.
"In
the near future, the Chinese health sector will greatly develop and this will
be in the interest of the Chinese people and the whole world," Xi said.
He then
visited the city's Franco-Chinese Institute before leaving for Paris to meet
the French president.
France lags
behind some European neighbours, especially Germany, in trade and investment
links with China.
Major
deals on the cards
It has
worked hard to catch up and deals in the aviation, nuclear, space, agriculture
and urban development sectors are expected to be unveiled during Xi's trip.
Details
have been closely guarded by both sides. The only deal certain to be signed is
one that will see Chinese firm Dongfeng take a stake in troubled French auto
giant Peugeot.
An
agreement on the joint construction of civilian helicopters between Airbus
Helicopters and China is also expected.
When Hollande
visited China in April last year, Xi welcomed him with a pledge to buy 60
Airbus planes and there could be more to come.
Luc Oursel, head of French nuclear giant Areva, last week said he hoped that several agreements would be signed, as negotiations continue on the construction in China of a nuclear waste reprocessing plant.
France's finance ministry is also organising an economic forum on Thursday that will gather together about 400 businesses.
France's finance ministry is also organising an economic forum on Thursday that will gather together about 400 businesses.
Honour
guards mark the arrival of China's President Xi Jinping at
Lyon Saint-Exupery
Airport, on March 25, 2014 (AFP, Jeff Pachoud)
|
"Our
economic and trade relationship with China is marked by a strong
imbalance," the French foreign ministry said, pointing to a trade deficit
of 25.8 billion euros ($35.7 billion) last year between the two countries.
At the end
of 2012, France's total investments in China came to 16.7 billion euros, four
times more than China's in France.
"Investments
are welcome in France and we are mobilised to facilitate them," French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Xi.
The trip is
also due to touch on political matters as the crisis in Ukraine dominates the
international agenda.
Xi is also
scheduled to make a major speech in Paris highlighting historical bonds such as
the experiences of Communist Party luminaries Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, who
both studied in France.
Xi's wife
Peng, China's first prominent First Lady, is also a Francophile.
Tibetan
protests due
And while
she no longer has a French counterpart after Hollande split from his partner
Valerie Trierweiler, Peng has her own itinerary planned that will see her named
special UNESCO envoy for the promotion of women's education.
The
question of human rights in China will have an impact on the visit amid an
ongoing, government-backed crackdown on dissent, with Tibetan exiles planning a
big rally in Paris on Thursday.
Since 2009
about 120 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China in protests against the
authorities, denouncing what they say is an erosion of their religious freedoms
and culture and discrimination by the country's Han majority.
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