Meeting delivers big deals

Hollande said he brought a group of businessmen to provide the most suitable and most needed products for the Chinese market.

He promised that Chinese investments will not encounter obstacles as long as they bring jobs and development.

"I welcome them all, and the sooner the better," the French president said.

Observers said the visit comes amid the most difficult time for Hollande since being elected in May last year.

His domestic approval rating has been driven to a record low 26 percent by stubbornly high unemployment amid the protracted financial crisis.

France registered a $34 billion trade deficit with China last year, and the country accounts for less than 2 percent of China’s foreign trade.

"There is an imbalance in our foreign trade, and we hope to correct that," Hollande said. "Not by reducing our investment and exports, but by increasing them further, and we will be discussing this throughout our meetings and on this trip."

More Chinese investment in France and further opening up in transportation, energy and urban services, where French firms excel, are part of the solution to correct the deficit, said Francois Godement, China specialist and professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies.