French President Jacques Chirac arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for talks with Chinese leaders and to attend several events promoting French business in China, DPA REPORTED. Chirac was scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao later on Wednesday and President Hu Jintao on Thursday, officials said. He also planned to travel to the central city of Wuhan to open a new Citroen joint-venture car plant, and may sign an agreement on the assembly of Airbus A320 planes in the northern city of Tianjin, according to unconfirmed reports. The presidents of Airbus, Alstom and Areva are among the large group of business executives scheduled to accompany the French president on his four-day visit. Before leaving Paris, Chirac told China's official Xinhua news agency that he wanted to build "a genuine industrial partnership" with China and that relations with China lie "at the heart of France's foreign affairs." France hopes to increase cooperation with China in such fields as aeronautics, nuclear energy, rail transportation, telecommunications and financial services, he was quoted as saying. "France is ready to provide necessary technologies that China may need in its development," Chirac said. "China is also clear that it can always find in France its partner, who is independent and who is willing to work together with China in building a balanced world," he was quoted as saying. French exports to China increased by 30 per cent in the first half of 2006. French investments in China rose 49 per cent last year, but it still remains only the third-largest European investor, French Ambassador Philippe Guelluy told the official China Daily newspaper. About 800 French firms operate in China, opening more than 1,000 factories and employing more than 200,000 Chinese people, Guelluy said. "In the economic sector, the two presidents some years ago decided on cooperation in important strategic areas such as civil aviation, energy and railways," he was quoted as saying. "As the areas of cooperation become larger, we have expanded into areas such as environment, finance and agriculture, water and gas distribution."
