| China, France ink joint statement, 14 co-op agreements |
BEIJING, Oct. 26 -- China signed an order today for 150 mid-size Airbus planes, as one of 14 agreements inked at the start of French President's state visit to China.
Airbus CEO Louis Gallois said that the ordered planes would be assembled in China and delivered between 2009 and 2012.
No monetary value was given for the order, nor were details released about which Chinese airlines would receive the planes.
The rest 13 agreements signed today in Beijing ranged from transport, nuclear power utilization to prevention of infectious disease.
China's Ministry of Railway will buy electric cargo trains from Alstom France. South China's Guangdong Nuclear Power Co will cooperate with Electricit¨¦de France in building nuclear power facilities, said the agreement.
China is scheduled to build 20 nuclear power stations by 2010, whose totally capacity of generation will hit 40 million kilowatts, according to the country's long term strategy on nuclear power development.
The two countries tied as general strategy partners in 2004, which have boosted the bilateral trade to grow by 20 percent in the past two years. Last year, the foreign trade value exceeded US$20 billion, Xinhua said.
The two presidents also signed a joint statement today in Beijing.
Jacques Chirac arrived in Beijing for a four-day state visit with trade high on the agenda. The Sino-France cooperation mainly focuses on space, aviation, railway transport and autos, Xinhua said.
Chirac will later visit ancient China's capital Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, and Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province.
Chirac is also expected to give a speech in the prestigious Peking University during his stay in Beijing today.
The four-day visit to China is Chirac's second in two years and likely the last of his mandate, which ends next year. He is unlikely to seek a third term.
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