French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in China yesterday,
starting his three-day visit to the country. This is an extremely
important part of a series of major diplomatic moves the new French
head of state plans to take. Sarkozy's China trip will mark the
beginning of a new phase in the development of the all-round
strategic partnership between China and France.
Since Sarkozy took office, his foreign policy adjustments have
shown the characteristic of succession mixed with innovation. The
country's independent and self-determined foreign policy is made to
protect France's national interests. The country's foreign policy,
based on a multi-polar world view and ethnic diversity, has not
changed.
The long-term strategic goal of Sarkozy's new foreign policy is
to elevate the country's economic and trade interests so as to make
the country stronger amid globalization. Needless to say, France
will continue to carry out its foreign policy with the European
Union as its strategic prop, lock on to the direction of advancing
European integration, push forward the multi-polarization of the
world, attach importance to mutual respect and dialogue between
different civilizations and play a proactive and unique role in
maintaining world peace.
The China-France partnership is based on expansive political
consensus, common economic interests, culture of mutual
understanding and growing mutual confidence.
The two countries maintain identical or similar standings on a
range of critical international issues. In May 1997, China and
France signed a "comprehensive partnership" document. In 2004, the
two nations signed another document sealing a "comprehensive
strategic partnership" between them during President Hu Jintao's
visit to France, elevating bilateral relations to a new high.
China and France are both dedicated to advancing the
multi-polarization of the world politics. They have pledged to
strengthen the multilateral system, protect collective security and
help solve global issues, oppose power politics in international
relations, advocate the settlement of international disputes
through dialogue and cooperation and oppose the use of and threats
to use force against another sovereign nation.
Both sides attach importance to the multilateral trade system
and work together on building up a fair, just and open
international trade order. They are concerned about the economic
and social consequences of globalization and push for a
mutually-beneficial globalization based on fair trade. And both
countries are for the protection of cultural diversity against the
backdrop of globalization.
China and France will sign an agreement to popularize the use of
French, since French, English and Chinese are all official
languages of the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing.
President Sarkozy's China visit is aimed at facilitating greater
development of the two countries within the framework of
"comprehensive strategic partnership agreement" by seizing the
opportunity for cooperation and development as well as facing any
challenge head on. Better economic and trade cooperation with China
will lend more energy to the French economy.
Today, France is China's second largest technological
cooperation partner, third largest source of investment and fourth
largest trading partner in the EU. France ranks the 10th in the
world and third in Europe in terms of total investment in China.
French conglomerates such as Alston, the EDF Group, Total, The Suez
Group, Airbus and many small and medium-sized enterprises have seen
their business operations in China grow considerably.
According to the latest French Investment in China Whitepaper, a
total of 850 French companies have invested in China, including 35
with annual earnings topping 5 billion euros. Alston and some other
international conglomerates' China operations are now earning more
profits than the average from their global setup. The third wave of
French investment in China will be led by small and medium-sized
enterprises.
Sino-Franco bilateral trade has been surging in recent years,
with their trade value in 2005 and 2006 reaching $20.65 billion and
$25.19 billion respectively and is expected to top $30 billion this
year, while the $40 billion mark is not far ahead. The two
countries' cooperation in nuclear energy development has become the
main stay in the deepening partnership.
Over the past 30 years or so, the two countries have seen their
cooperation in nuclear energy develop deeper, which has contributed
a great deal to the protection of energy resources security, energy
resources self-determination and efforts to handle global warming,
which reminds us the market potential of Sino-Franco cooperation in
environmental protection remains largely untapped.
Earlier this year, French nuclear power generating equipment
giant Areva won a contract to build two nuclear power plants for
China worth of 6 billion euros. The official inking of this
contract will be a highlight of President Sarkozy's current visit
to China.
Like their counterparts throughout the world, French
conglomerates investing in China are not free of risks and
challenges. The great majority of French businesses find their
China operations contributing less than 5 percent of their total
business volume nowadays. It is mainly caused by structural
problems in industries and trade rather than intellectual property
rights protection and restrictions on technology transfer.
France is among the first to appreciate the prospect of China's
overseas investment capability. It is now the third largest
receiver of foreign investment in the world, with direct foreign
investment totaling $88.4 billion in 2006. Though direct investment
by Chinese enterprises in France is only a fraction of the total
the country receives each year, the two countries' cooperation in
this area will only expand in the future.
France is taking measures to facilitate Chinese enterprises'
participation in bilateral trade. Next year, France will lower
income tax from 60 percent to 50 percent as well as capital gains
tax, implement the policy of allowing spending in scientific
research and development to substitute tax payment and simplify
visa procedures for Chinese entrepreneurs who invest in France.
To Sarkozy, the new French president, fortifying and developing
Sino-Franco ties is a logical step for France to take to protect
its international status and suits the development of the two
nations' common interests. And carrying on the China policy his
predecessor Jacques Chirac developed is the right decision Sarkozy
has made for his presidency as the overwhelming trend demands.
As French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner pointed out during
his recent visit to China his country's China policy would only
improve in the future. France supports the one-China policy and
opposes the Taiwan authorities' attempt to pursue UN membership
through a "referendum".
Sarkozy visited China three times in 1991, 1995 and 2004, so it
is safe to say he has a personal reason to be friendly to China.
When he emerged victorious in the presidential election earlier
this year, President Hu sent him a congratulatory message as soon
as the final result of ballot counting was known. This shows just
how important the bilateral relationship is to the two nations.
Sarkozy spelled out his future China policy in systematic detail
during his presidential campaign, believing France-China ties
cultivated by the late President Charles de Gaulle and his Chinese
counterpart back in the 1950s are special, occupy an important spot
on the multi-polar international stage and constitutes a key
balancing power in the world. He dismissed some of his rivals'
pledge to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics during the presidential
election campaign and made public his desire to attend the Olympic
Games opening ceremony in Beijing in August next year.
The Sino-Franco partnership is also an important part of
China-EU relations and instrumental in Asia-Europe dialogue. The
development of China-France comprehensive strategic partnership
provides more opportunities and space for cooperation between China
and the EU.
For years France has been pushing within the EU for the lifting
of the arms embargo against China. It will assume the rotating EU
presidency in the second half of next year and is expected to
proactively seek to implement the new cooperation framework in the
form of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, eliminate the
negative factors hindering China-EU relations and further advance
the development of China-EU strategic partnership, as it has been
doing for years.
On human rights, he has made considerable efforts to push
forward China-EU cooperation in this regard since taking office and
has sought to enhance human right talks with China mainly through
the European Commission's "basic rights apparatus", the European
Parliament and the European Council. China and France officially
signed the treaty on the extradition of criminals, which will serve
as a statutory foundation for joint efforts by the two countries to
fight transnational crime. The Chinese side is also working hard in
preparation for ratifying the International Convention on Civil and
Political Rights.
The upcoming talks between Chinese and French leaders will
surely arrive at more consensuses over various global issues. They
will also exchange views on such issues as the renminbi exchange
rate and cooperation in African development. Global climate change
and sustainable development in particular will feature prominently
in discussions between the two sides.
We believe President Sarkozy's China visit will advance
China-France talks to greater depth and usher in a fresh phase for
the development of international relations suited for the new
century.
The author is a researcher with China Institute of International
Studies
(China Daily November 26, 2007)
