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Chinese, French enterprises encouraged to innovate, cooperate

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-31 17:32

BEIJING - Chinese and French enterprises can innovate and cooperate as both countries have coped with the financial crisis, a senior Chinese legislator said Wednesday.

Hua Jianmin, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, told a China-France economic seminar in Beijing that the two countries can cooperate in a broad range of fields, including clean energy.

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told 500 Chinese and French businessmen and scholars attending the meeting the booming economic and trade cooperation will bolster bilateral ties.

China-France trade hit $34.5 billion last year, with France remaining China's fourth largest trade partner and fourth largest source of foreign investment in the European Union.

The annual seminar, the 16th since it was launched in 1995, focused on new opportunities and models for the two countries' economic cooperation in the wake of global economic downturn.

Raffarin said France and China could tap development potentials in many areas, including technological innovation, energy, environmental protection, new materials and agriculture.