53 economic accords set to be inked during Li's visit
China and France are to enhance their ties through the joint exploration of third-party markets, co-productions and providing the world with more jointly made products, observers said, as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began a three-day visit to France late Monday, the first by a Chinese premier in nearly a decade. [Special coverage]
Li's schedule included lunch with President Francois Hollande Tuesday and a later visit with counterpart Manuel Valls. He is also to give a key speech at the headquarters of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris on Wednesday.
France is rolling out the red carpet for Li with "very high level" protocol treatment on his visit, AFP reported.
Some 53 commercial and industrial accords are expected to be inked on Li's trip, including "significant contracts for tens of billions of euros" with European aerospace giant Airbus, energy group Alstom, French container shipping company CMA-CGM and French electricity giant Engie, said sources close to Valls.
In an article published Monday in Le Figaro, Li wrote that China and France should follow the trend of world development, take up their responsibilities and develop new areas of cooperation.
He also expressed the hope that it would start a new chapter for relations and international cooperation between China and France.
China and France strengthened partnership and economic ties in 2014, when Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a historic visit to France on the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties.
The meeting between Xi and Hollande laid an instructive foundation for plans that Li is expected to realize.
Deepening economic ties and bolstering bilateral trade will top Li's agenda.
The declaration on jointly exploring a third market and promotion of the jointly produced Chinese and French goods means that Sino-French ties have gone beyond a buyer-seller relationship, observers said.
This is the first time that both China and France have signed such a cooperation document on exploring a third market, said Vice Foreign Minister Wang Chao on Friday.
France has influence in French-speaking northern, western and some central African countries and the willingness to explore its "backyard" with China is a clear gesture showing political trust, Ding Yifan, deputy director of the Institute of World Development under the State Council's Development Research Center, told the Global Times.
The jointly produced Chinese and French goods will be a combination of the most advanced technologies of China and France, likely to range from manufactured goods to joint projects in a third country, said Ding.
Shen Xiaoquan, an expert on French affairs, said that with solid social foundations and rich resources in Africa, France will help China further develop African markets.
Shen noted that Africa is not the only "third market" China and France can work on. Under the "Belt and Road" initiatives and the investment plan initiated by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to revive Europe's economy, Chinese and French investors can explore markets in Asia and Europe, he said.
During Xi's visit to France in March last year, China National Nuclear Corporation signed important contracts with French power company Electricite de France to jointly develop Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, in what will be the UK's first new nuclear plant in more than two decades.
Ding said such cooperation is a perfect example of a Chinese-French product, adding that both countries are looking for more areas of cooperation, and frequent high-level exchanges will realize that.
EU data shows that China-France trade volume hit $55 billion in 2014, a 5.3-percent growth year on year. China now stands as France's eighth-largest export market and sixth-largest source of imports, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
