Not content to be trailing in the race, France is scrambling to catch up on trade with China by urging the small and medium-sized entrepreneurs on the French business scene to make a push for Chinese markets.
France is now China's fourth foreign trading partner among its European Union allies, with exchanges totalling 13.4 billion dollars (10.6 billion euros) in 2003, out of China's total foreign trade volume of 851 billion dollars - a fast-rising sum that is 37.1 percent up over the volume a year ago.
The real competition is with Germany, whose trade with China triggered envy in Paris when it exceeded 37 billion dollars in the first 11 months of last year - compared with just 12 billion dollars for France.
But France's efforts to change matters appear to be catching on. In 2003, French-Chinese exchanges increased 60.9 percent, with France beating out Italy.
In terms of investments in China, France now holds third place among its EU partners, with accumulated stock totalling in late November some 6.11 billion dollars. The stock, spread over 500 companies, however represents only one percent of the total foreign investments in China.
"Despite an increase in flow in five years, French investors still do not see China as a priority for foreign investment," said a source at the French Economic Mission in China.
Chinese President Hu Jintao begins a visit to France on Monday to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties with Paris.
Though trade and investment are not top of the agenda, the Chinese president will meet French business leaders and be present at the signing of two key industrial deals, already announced months ago.
The first will lead to the creation of the world's largest television maker through a partial merger of French consumer electronics company Thomson and its Chinese rival TCL to create both television sets and DVD players in China. The second is with French glass giant Saint Gobain to create a factory in the eastern city of Qingdao.
In other areas, French firms are making bids for the construction of two nuclear plants in China and a high-speed train line between the capital Beijing and Shanghai. Though Chinese leaders have made it clear they appreciate French knowhow in these areas, nothing will be known until bidding starts, probably sometime in 2004.
During a visit to Beijing last month, French Finance Minister Francis Mer urged his compatriots to "increase visits and exchanges" with China to "quickly understand" the dynamic at work there, stressing that German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder had already made five trips to China.
French President Jacques Chirac by contrast has only made two.
Mer also urged French small- and medium-sized enterprises, which generally export little, not to have any "complex" about going for the Chinese market.
Today, only 100 or so French small and medium business are present in China, accounting for 1,400 of the 2,000 clients of the economic missions that counsel them how to go about setting up shop in China.
Big French industrial groups account for the bulk of French economic presence in China today. Some, including the telecommunications' equipment giant Alcatel and Onyx, which handles waste management, have already set up their headquarters for the Asia-Pacific region in Shanghai, China's economic capital.
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