Former French PM promotes Expo

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin learns about the master plan of the 2010 Expo. [en.expo2010.cn]

Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said on January 20 he hoped the France Pavilion would remain after the 2010 Expo to promote Sino-French long-term cultural exchanges.

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Raffarin represented France to confirm the country's participation in the 2010 Expo in 2005, the first country to do so.

He invited Chinese people to visit his Blog at www.carnetjpr.com, which has a Chinese version, at a press conference in Shanghai Wednesday, and said he would write stories about the Expo.

Sino-French ties are not only limited to political and economic fields, but culture as well, he said.

The former prime minister will visit the Expo site during the event. He told reporters that Le Figaro, a French daily newspaper, would organize a readers' group to the Expo site in June.

Some French schools are also preparing a similar visit to promote Chinese study for their students, he revealed.

France will celebrate its pavilion's national day by hosting a music festival.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to visit the 2010 World Expo site in the first half of this year, Raffarin said.