Former French president Giscard Destaing said yesterday in Beijing that he believes China is taking World Trade Organization(WTO) rules seriously and is showing it will carry out its promises.
The former head of state spoke yesterday at the opening ceremony of the seventh annual Sino-French Economic Seminar.
The two-day seminar, which ends today, touches on a wide range of topics concerning China's economic development and Sino-French economic cooperation.
The prospects of the information technology (IT) industry and the application of high technologies are the themes of this year's seminar, said Yu Xiaosong, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).
Businesses from the two countries were to explore cooperative opportunities and exchange their views on the application of high technologies in finance and commerce and the research and development of electronic links, he said.
Eighty French business officials and 200 officials from Chinese IT companies and government departments are taking part in this year's seminar, according to the CCPIT.
State Councilor Wu Yi said she believes the potential for economic cooperation between China and France is huge as China's 10th Five-Year Plan (2001-05) stresses development of its west and the country is entering the WTO.
"China and France are two complementary economies. France has advanced and mature technologies in many sectors that China has set down as the priorities for its development," she said.
Destaing, who headed the French delegation, said China is a major factor in maintaining the stability of the Asian economy.
Tao Jingzhou, a French lawyer based in Beijing and the managing partner of the international law firm Coudert Brothers, expect China's participation in the WTO to help French companies invest in such sectors as insurance, telecommunications and retail. French companies have extensive expertise in these fields.
Destaing said high and new technologies, dubbed "information technology," are a major driving force behind the rapid world economic development of the past few years.
This is the right time to discuss how to make the best use of high technologies while tumbling high-tech stocks dampen the world economic outlook, he said.
(China Daily March 23, 2001)
