"French cuisine has this power to enhance imagination and to bring happiness in a potentially difficult context," Ducasse says on his website announcement of the event.

The dinner menus for Thursday must be composed of fresh, seasonal and localized dishes that have low levels of fat, sugar, salt and protein, apart from being French in style.

Each menu's price is the restaurant's decision, and participating eateries are encouraged to donate 5 percent of proceeds to a local NGO promoting health and environmental protection.

About 43 Chinese restaurants had applied on the initiative's website, Goodfrance.com, before 32 were selected, according to the French embassy.

Nine of the selected Chinese restaurants are in Beijing, and the rest are in cities across the country, including Hong Kong, Shanghai and Chengdu.

At the news conference last week, chefs from the nine restaurants in Beijing disclosed their menus. All participating restaurants - with menus ranging from bistro to contemporary to fine dining - have posted information online at Goodfrance.com, including their addresses and contacts.