French President Jacques Chirac visited Wuhan in Central China's Hubei Province on Friday to boost his country's business presence in this industrial city.

 

France is "ready for the most ambitious cooperation" with China, said Chirac.

 

On Thursday, China signed an order to buy 150 mid-size Airbus A320 airliners. Airbus also signed agreements to open a final assembly line in China, its first outside Europe.

 

The line is "the symbol of the will of France and its partners at Airbus to establish a strategic alliance between Europe and China in aviation," Chirac said at a breakfast with business leaders.

 

"We must extend this logic to other sectors in our partnership," he said, citing railways, nuclear power, telecoms and agriculture as areas for cooperation.

 

At lunch, Chirac, on what is likely to be his last trip to China as president before his term expires next May, enthusiastically applauded as musicians played an array of racked bells and other traditional instruments.

 

Chirac also inaugurated the construction of a second Wuhan car factory run by PSA Peugeot Citroen and its Chinese partner Dongfeng Motor Group Co.

 

French firms have established a strong presence in Wuhan, a sprawling city on the Yangtze River, which is twinned with Bordeaux.

 

PSA's new plant in Wuhan will be capable of producing 150,000 cars a year. PSA's local venture sold 140,000 cars in 2005, and hopes to sell 200,000 this year.

 

On Saturday, Chirac will fly to Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province to visit the Hanyangling Museum, where countless pottery figurines dating back more than 2,000 years are now on display.

 

He will also tour the Shaanxi History Museum to see previous relics from 13 feudal dynasties that made Xi'an their capital.

 

(China Daily October 28, 2006)