French President Jacques Chirac, currently on a four-day state visit to China, paid homage to the treasured relationship between France and China, at a reception on Thursday at the Peninsula Hotel in Beijing.

 

The Peninsula Hotel, Chirac's residence of choice on each of his visits to China, went all-out to impress with its chefs preparing over 12,000 canapés for the numerous crowd awaiting the President.

 

In front of around 1500 guests, most of them French citizens in China invited to the event, Chirac staked out an agenda for his visit and lay down his hopes and dreams for the future of the bilateral relationship.

 

President Chirac has enjoyed a very close relationship with China in his 11-year tenure and on this, his fourth and likely final state visit, he praised the development China had witnessed.

 

"Since our last visit, France's relationship with China has developed further and been significantly enriched," said Chirac. "High-level contacts between our two nations have never been so frequent. Each day brings new projects, new promises for the future."

 

Chirac was accompanied at the reception by the EU Ambassador to China, Serge Abou, and the French Ambassador to China, Philippe Guelluy, highlighting the political importance of his visit. Scheduled to meet today with Chinese leaders such as President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, Chirac is viewing this trip as a final chance to weigh on the ongoing EU-China dialogues on international affairs and trade.

 

Addressing a crowd including both French and Chinese dignitaries, Chirac spoke about "enhancing the Sino-French global strategic partnership…through respecting cultural diversity. France attaches supreme importance to its political relation with China since they both share the goal of building a harmonious world, a world of peace and security."

 

Commenting on China's recent important role in global crises such as the North Korea's nuclear issue and the Lebanese war, Chirac added that "China's growing role in helping the non-proliferation act, its participation in UN peacekeeping missions, in Lebanon for example, highlights our two nations' cooperation in terms of principles as well as in practical operations."

 

Chirac, suffering from low approval ratings at home and embroiled in a political feud with members of his own UMP party, including presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, has enjoyed widespread popularity in China for his love of the country and his encyclopedic knowledge of its culture.

 

Chirac carefully avoided mention of the EU-imposed tariffs in his speech on Chinese shoe manufacturers, but trade will undoubtedly be an important part of his discussions with the Chinese leadership.

 

Accompanied on this visit by 30 French industry leaders, such as the chief executives of Peugeot, Areva, Alstom, Societe Generale and Airbus, Chirac will be looking to help close some major trade deals. France has been a major ally of China's in the EU, advocating the lifting of the EU arms embargo against China, and for it to be recognized as a market economy.

 

"During this visit, I will bring up with Chinese leaders the establishment of our industrial partnership. This partnership will be marked by new progress. I am happy at the new agreements that will be signed by several of our enterprises, as I am of the assured successes of the months ahead," said Chirac, adding that "to further this move, we must, in years to come, focus on human training and development."

 

However, in this swansong trip to China, Chirac's emotion was audible in his praise of the French community in China. Thanking 100 young French students, hand-selected to represent France in China, for their presence, Chirac outlined that to foster the Sino-French relationship, "we would have to speak China's language, know its history, appreciate its culture, open ourselves to its spirit and social characteristics and to this end, welcome more Chinese students in France."

 

Following his speech, Chirac left the stage to the sounds of La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, and soaked up the attention from the crowd, pausing to take pictures with French and Chinese members of the audience, causing a little concern for his bodyguards who worked hard to keep the President from being jostled.

 

(China.org.cn by Chris Dalby, October 26, 2006)