Deals totaling 8.54 bln USD inked at China-France forum

WUHAN, March 21 (Xinhua) -- Deals worth 60.6 billion yuan (about 8.54 billion U.S. dollars) covering 58 projects were signed at the 7th China-France Forum on Urban Sustainable Development held in Wuhan, capital city of central China's Hubei Province, on Wednesday.

The forum was hosted to mark the 10th anniversary of China and France's signing the joint agreement to build the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City. The project, covering an area of 39 square kilometers, has integrated Chinese and French ecological urban construction concepts and is rising as a popular spot for residents and companies.

The deals signed on Wednesday cover the fields of ecosystem protection, green economy and urban construction, and involve 11 France-invested projects.

According to a white paper on the development of the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City published on Wednesday, the Ecological Demonstration City has welcomed more than 3,000 officials, entrepreneurs and researchers from France over the past decade. Meanwhile, nearly 20 exchange tours to France were organized as part of the project.

The Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City has attracted a total investment of 103.5 billion yuan, and its actual use of foreign capital has reached 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, according to the white paper.