Sarkozy heads for Expo with hand of friendship
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
April 27, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy will look to bury past tensions with China and win its support in global issues from Iran's nuclear plan to monetary reform during a visit to the country this week.
Accompanied by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde and other ministers, Sarkozy will present his ideas for a global currency system that relies less on the dollar.
Ties between France and China hit a low in 2008 when protesters disrupted the passage of the Beijing Olympic torch through Paris and Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama.
Underlining the importance France places on China, the visit from tomorrow until the weekend will be Sarkozy's fourth trip to the nation since his election in 2007, and his second full state visit.
His wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, often skips his overseas voyages, but will be by his side this week and together they will attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo on Saturday and open France's pavilion at the Expo site.
Sarkozy will meet President Hu Jintao in Shanghai.
Sarkozy also plans to use the opportunity to explain his proposal for diversifying the global monetary system to reflect a more complex world - an idea he wants to make a major subject of the G8 and G20 summits hosted by France next year.
China has shown interest in an overhaul, challenging the United States dollar's status as the world's favoured currency.
Chinese manufacturers are now increasingly developing and selling their own technology, making the market tougher for French planes and power plants.
In past visits, Sarkozy struck deals for two nuclear reactors for a plant in Taishan, as well as 160 orders for Airbus planes. No major deals are expected this time.
"One of the big questions of this trip is to find out whether France can resume its big-contract diplomacy," said Francois Godement, a China specialist at the Institute of Political Science in Paris. "Little by little, France's big businesses are hunted out of their niches in China.
"How many trains are we going to sell to China, when it is selling its own high-speed train as far afield as California and Saudi Arabia?"
Accompanied by French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde and other ministers, Sarkozy will present his ideas for a global currency system that relies less on the dollar.
Ties between France and China hit a low in 2008 when protesters disrupted the passage of the Beijing Olympic torch through Paris and Sarkozy met the Dalai Lama.
Underlining the importance France places on China, the visit from tomorrow until the weekend will be Sarkozy's fourth trip to the nation since his election in 2007, and his second full state visit.
His wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, often skips his overseas voyages, but will be by his side this week and together they will attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo on Saturday and open France's pavilion at the Expo site.
Sarkozy will meet President Hu Jintao in Shanghai.
Sarkozy also plans to use the opportunity to explain his proposal for diversifying the global monetary system to reflect a more complex world - an idea he wants to make a major subject of the G8 and G20 summits hosted by France next year.
China has shown interest in an overhaul, challenging the United States dollar's status as the world's favoured currency.
Chinese manufacturers are now increasingly developing and selling their own technology, making the market tougher for French planes and power plants.
In past visits, Sarkozy struck deals for two nuclear reactors for a plant in Taishan, as well as 160 orders for Airbus planes. No major deals are expected this time.
"One of the big questions of this trip is to find out whether France can resume its big-contract diplomacy," said Francois Godement, a China specialist at the Institute of Political Science in Paris. "Little by little, France's big businesses are hunted out of their niches in China.
"How many trains are we going to sell to China, when it is selling its own high-speed train as far afield as California and Saudi Arabia?"
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