China tells France it wants more balanced trade

27 April AFP

French President Francois Hollande wrapped up a two-day visit to China, confident that France could achieve more balanced trade with the world's second largest economy.

Hollande became the first Western leader to meet China's new president Xi Jinping and picked up a deal potentially worth billions for 60 new Airbus aircraft. France runs a 26-billion-euro ($34 billion) trade deficit with China and Hollande said Beijing "responded perfectly to the requests that we made".

On the second and final day of his visit, his first to China, Hollande met Premier Li Keqiang. "China is not looking for a trade surplus but wants to import more French goods," Li said, according to a source close to the delegations.