France rolls out red carpet for Chinese

"We must find the sectors that our two countries have complementary advantages in. We are not capable of simply buying up an asset in France and waiting for its value to appreciate."

Huang Nubo, the chairman of Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group, says he is looking for French partners to manage his company's scenic real estate. The Chinese developer stirred controversy in Europe recently with his multimillion-dollar proposal to buy property in Iceland and develop it into a tourism resort.

"France is a country with extensive service resources and this is what China needs the most," he said at a breakfast meeting with French entrepreneurs. "So I believe we can find a lot of opportunities in this area."

Wang Wenjing, CEO of Yonyou Software Co Ltd, also says that there is "a great deal of unexplored potential" in France industrial and agricultural sectors that could provide the basis for future cooperation between China and France.

During their visit, the Chinese entrepreneurs also met French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, Vice-President of the French Senate Jean-Pierre Raffarin and executives from French corporate giants, including Schneider Electric, the Dassault Group, BNP Paribas and luxury fashion house Chanel.

Emmanuel Limido, president of France Emerging Enterprises, an organization that promotes two-way investment for French companies in international markets, especially in emerging markets, said that firm actions are needed to boost investment between France and China.

"We already had political understanding at the highest level on both sides," he said. "Now we need to get the companies to start talking and working directly with one another."

Peter Mandelson, former trade commissioner of the European Union, reassured the Chinese entrepreneurs that Europe is not in decline, and that China and Europe should be optimistic about future collaboration.

"Europe has gone through serious external shocks from which it is recovering. But that does not mean economic depression," he said.

He notes that governments should continue to provide open and stable markets in Europe, while China should address state domination of its economic growth and give private enterprises more space and freedom to develop.

However, not everyone in the Chinese delegation shared the optimistic views about Europe's economic prospects.

Xu Xiaonian, a senior economist at China's Europe International Business School, said that Europe's economy will continue to be in recession and that thorough structural reforms are needed to emerge from the current crisis.

"During our meetings in France, the officials and business leaders avoided talking about the key problems of the labor market and the welfare system," Xu says.

"In fact, the real problem is not the enterprises themselves. It is the business environment that has hindered economic recovery."

He notes that the current business environment in France does not allow more innovative companies to emerge due to high taxes and rigid labor laws.

Xu says that the French government must cut company taxes and initiate substantial reforms in its welfare system to make the country more attractive to foreign investors.

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