Trade imbalance beteen China and France to be eased

Several deals signed, cooperative projects announced as premier hosts Valls during visit

China and France reinforced their ties with new deals in nuclear power, aviation and ecological protection on Thursday, and the two sides promised to reduce Beijing's widening trade gap with Paris.

The agreements, signed after Premier Li Keqiang met with visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, will see the two countries join forces to design nuclear power stations and cooperate with maritime satellites. They will also jointly develop a wetlands park in North China's Shanxi province, in addition to other cooperation.

"Economic ties between China and France remain as the cornerstone of bilateral ties," Li said at a news conference after the meeting. "China is not purposely pursuing a trade surplus with France."

Trade volume between the countries reached $51 billion in 2012. That figure was reduced to $49.83 billion in 2013.

A multi-billion-dollar trade deficit with China is seen in Paris as unsustainable. In the first 11 months of 2014, the China surplus accounted for nearly 40 percent of France's total trade deficit.

Li called for more cooperation between Beijing and Paris in nuclear power, aviation and high-speed railways, as well as in medical care, ecological protection and finance.

He urged France to lift restrictions on high-tech products exported to China and to offer an easier business environment for Chinese investors in France.

Valls, on his first visit to China as prime minister, said one important goal of China-France economic cooperation is to rebalance the large trade deficit, and he called for more access by China to French products and more Chinese investment in France.

Valls said France issued its first government debts denominated in yuan earlier on Thursday, a move to push relations ahead on the financial front. Paris is one of a handful of European cities with a yuan clearing service.

Cai Fangbai, former Chinese ambassador to France, said China's links with the country had transcended the "simple buy-and-sell relationship".

He said France is looking forward to stronger economic ties with the world's second-largest economy to shake off a long-standing slow economy.