CRI听力:China, France to Deepen Nuclear Power, Aviation Cooperation

One of the new agreements Li Keqiang has overseen includes a number of collaboration agreements among Chinese and French nuclear power companies.

Among the agreements, French nuclear power giant Areva has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the China National Nuclear Corporation for the creation of a used nuclear fuel processing and recycling facility.

Another agreement between the two covers the entire fuel cycle: including extraction and conversion of uranium, fabrication of zirconium fuel assemblies, deconstruction and dismantling, transportation and recycling.
 
The nuclear agreements are the latest in a long history of nuclear power ties between China and France.

The two countries began collaborating back in 1978, when then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping announced China's purchase of two nuclear power plants from France.

Zhou Dadi, vice director of the China Energy Research Institute, says China's first nuclear power plant, the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, was built with French technology.

"China and France has a long history of nuclear power cooperation. French companies' nuclear technology has been playing an important role in China's construction and operation of nuclear power plants. Our long-term cooperation covers not only the technology, but also management exchanges. One the Chinese side, we will also help France develop their third-generation nuclear reactor EPR project."

French analyst Laurence Daziano says the agreements signed in Paris make sense for the French side right now.

"The French nuclear industry is in trouble, actually, and needs financing. And, China is one of the possible partners to invest in our nuclear industry. It's not the only one, and I think the French government has a range of possible companies, or possible partners, to deal with in nuclear energy. But, China is [a] very important one. China is building a lot of nuclear plants on its territory, and there are also possibilities of cooperation."

Meanwhile, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has also overseen the purchase of 45 Airbus A330's, as well as a deal for a provisional order for 30 more planes in the future.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has also taken part in the signing ceremony, says they want to see ties between China and France expand when it comes to industrial capacity.

"That's also the case for aeronautics. We are developing a large scale industrial partnership. The agreement we signed a few minutes ago is on the firm sale of forty five A330 Airbus with an optional deal for another thirty aircrafts and another agreement will be signed in Toulouse on Thursday on the creation of an aircraft completion centre in Tianjin."

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's time in Paris comes on the heels of a stop in Belgium as part of his current tour in Europe.

For CRI, I'm Qian Shanming.