Published by: World Tibet Network News 96/04/03 24:00 GMT

CHINA, April 02, AsiaInfo Services, Inc -- Premier Li Peng's trip to France this month will boost economic and trade ties between the two countries to a new stage, said Liu Youhou of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (Moftec). The business executives are expected to talk with their French counterparts about cooperative projects, and some trade contracts and agreements will be signed, he said without elaborating. Moftec statistics show that by the end of 1995, French investments in China totaled 957 with contractual direct French investment totaling US$ 1.815 billion and actual investments of US$ 1.085 billion. A large part of the investments went into the automotive industry. Liu said most of the Sino-French joint ventures are production enterprises in China's coastal areas. China and France signed some big contracts last year, including the second phase of the Luohuang thermal power station in Sichuan Province and the Ling'ao nuclear power station in Guangdong Province. Chinese customs

statistics reveal that trade between China and France hit US$ 4.49 billion last year, up 33% from 1994. Of the total, China's exports and imports stood at US$ 1.84 billion and US$ 2.65 billion, up 29.3% and 36.5% from the previous year. China imported two million tons o wheat from France last year. France is the fourth-largest trading partner in the European Union with China, after Germany, Italy and Britain.