Chirac Promotes China Trade Links

　　法国总统希拉克一行于10月8日晚22时抵达访华首站四川省成都市，在双流国际机场，受到了中国国家副主席曾庆红、中共四川省委书记张学忠等官员的热烈欢迎。希拉克表示欧盟对中国采取的长达15年的军售禁令毫无道理，并指出欧盟可能在明年不顾美反对解除禁令。希拉克称大部分欧洲国家都同意他的看法，并希望“在明年初解决所有的问题，这是目标”。

French President Jacques Chirac is to meet his Chinese counterpart on the second day of a visit designed to boost the two countries' economic links.

Mr Chirac will meet President Hu Jintao in Beijing hours after delivering a speech in the city of Chengdu. France is keen to improve its trade links with China, and a high-profile team of ministers and industrialists is with Mr Chirac on his state visit. On Friday Mr Chirac called for an end to an EU embargo on selling China arms. Mr Chirac will speak about economic partnership in Chengdu on Saturday morning before heading to Beijing to meet China's president. The French president is being accompanied on his trip by senior government figures including Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres and External Commerce Minister Francois Loos. There are both cultural and political aspects to Mr Chirac's visit. The public highlight of the four-day visit will come on Sunday when French musician Jean Michel Jarre will perform a concert in Beijing's Forbidden City to mark the official start of "The year of France" in China. And Mr Chirac is expected to reaffirm France's position that Taiwan is part of "one China". But the bulk of the president's visit is designed to boost trade and economic links with China. French companies are competing to build a high-speed train link and nuclear reactors, as well to sell aircraft to China. France is keen to expand its business presence in China, where it lags far behind some of its European allies. Bilateral trade stood at $13bn last year, yet French companies only have one percent of the Chinese market.