President Hu's visit "very important": France-China Committee president

"I think the visit is very important, I believe each time Chinese and French presidents meet each other, it's a moment inevitablly important for both countries," France-China Committee President Jean-Pascal Tricoire says.

In a recent interview with Xinhua on the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to France from Nov. 4 to 6, Tricoire said the importance of the meeting between the leaders of China and France can be attributed to "a context and climate" of very good relations between the two countries.

"I think it is very important that the two presidents of our countries, France and China, to agree on major priorities for the world and work together for a world more harmonious, more balanced, and at the same time maintains something extremely important, which is peace," he said.

"It seems a very big idea, but I think the important economic trade between our regions are the best guarantee of this balance and harmony."

"When there is significant trade exchange between countries, people know each other, people work together, there is interdependence. ... and it's the best guarantee of durable good relations between the two countries. So I think...President Hu's visit to France is extremely important and very positive," he added.

After the financial crisis, "the world is becoming much more multipolar, meaning China has certainly won much economic and political importance during the two years of crisis. Meanwhile the exchange continue to increase between China and Europe," he said.

To Tricoire, who is also chief executive officer of Schneider Electric, China-France relations are excellent. "There are many economic exchanges going on, cultural exchanges as well, and I think we're in a period full of positive relations between the two countries," he said.

"As president of the France-China Committee, I take more and more delegations ...to China and then I noticed more and more Chinese delegations here in Paris. In my company Schneider Electric, for example, the largest number of customers who visit us here in Paris, from abroad, are Chinese," Tricoire said.

Tricoire spoke strongly in favor of further strengthening bilateral dialogues, meetings and discussions.

"The first goal of the France-China Committee is to create an exchange platform, a meeting place, a place of dialogue that allows companies of both countries to know each other better. And when we know each other better, there are fewer misunderstandings," he said.

Founded in 1979, the France-China Committee is made up of about 100 companies which have long invested in China, including Total, Airbus, Alstom, BNP Paribas and L'Oreal.

The committee has long been devoting itself to promoting bilateral economic relations.

Source:Xinhua