PARIS - Over 500 Chinese and French business leaders gathered at the Sino-French Cooperation and Investment Forum, which opened here Friday, to discuss how to expand bilateral business cooperation under new international circumstances.
The event was sponsored by the Chinese Commerce Ministry and the French Economy Ministry. Participants included senior executive officers in aviation, energy, manufacture, agriculture, food and light industry.
Pierre-Antoine Gailly, vice president of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the forum's host, told Xinhua in an interview that France and China have maintained close bilateral cooperation in various sectors, including two-way investment, personnel exchange and training.
He said French-Chinese political and economic cooperation will be further accelerated in an all-round way as mutual visits of senior officials from both countries are being increased.
Fu Zhiheng, vice president of the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC), told Xinhua that his company's collaboration with French partners has been significantly expanded since they forged partnership a decade ago.
So far, the CGWIC has collaborated with its French partners for dozens of cooperation projects in astronautics and aviation, Fu said.
During the forum, Chinese and French companies signed six cooperation agreements valued at $1.7 billion in the areas of auto industry, infrastructure, raw materials and agriculture.
"Win-win strategy" is one of the most popular phrases at the forum.
Sybille Dubois Fontaine Turner, director-general of the France-China Committee, said the "win-win" concept should be followed out in all bilateral cooperation between the two nations.
She called on both French and Chinese enterprises to stay in close touch, echoing what former French Premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin underlined in his speech at the forum titled "work in interdependence."
Chinese telecom solutions provider Huawei voiced a similar wish and stressed the importance of an international and globalized strategy for a multinational or trans-border cooperation.
"Our core strategy is to combine the wisdom of our Easterners' ancient philosophy with the Westerners' advanced experience in management," said Huawei's French branch director Sun Ao.
