Visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao proposed on Monday in his speech to the National Council of French Employers that the two countries further strengthen their cooperation and improve mechanisms for dialogue.

The premier, who arrived here Sunday for a four-day official visit to France, first urged the two countries to consolidate and enhance cooperation in the high-tech field when addressing the National Council of French Employers.

Wen said while China is willing to step up collaboration with France in the fields of nuclear energy, aviation and railway projects, the country wants to further boost bilateral cooperation in space technology, biological engineering and information technology.

On investment, the premier said as China is seeking a comprehensive development of the country's western regions and rejuvenating the industrial bases in the northeast, the country is providing plenty of new investment opportunities for French enterprises.

"We welcome French enterprises to invest in China and also encourage those qualified Chinese firms to seek development in France," said the Chinese premier.

In his speech, Wen also called on the two countries to raise the level of cooperation in the service sector. He said among the more than 160 sectors of the service industry specified by the World Trade Organization, China has opened more than 100 and is proceeding with the opening of banking, insurance, securities and distribution sectors.

"France has apparent advantages in the modern-day service sector and there's huge potential for cooperation in this field with China," said Wen, adding that China is also seeking to alter the growth mode of foreign trade by encouraging the export of services.

On promoting the cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, Wen said the potential is great, as France has some 2. 4 million such firms while the figure for China is as high as 8 million.

"Small and medium-sized enterprises have their unique advantages in providing job opportunities and China is to create better development environment for these enterprises," the premier said.

Wen expressed the hope that small and medium-sized enterprises in both China and France will be able to fully utilize the current platform of cooperation and seek further improvements.

On improving the mechanism for dialogue, the premier said the two countries need to further build the mechanism for consultations and properly handle the trade disputes arising from the growing bilateral trade.

"China is in support for free trade and is actively promoting free, convenient trade and investment," noted the premier. He said China hopes to resolve trade disputes through equal consultations and is opposed to frequently resorting to trade restrictions.

On trade imbalance, Wen said China is not in pursuit of trade surplus. He called on the developed countries to ease restrictions on technology transfers as a way to minify the imbalances.

The premier expressed hope that trade volume with France could be doubled in five years to hit 40 billion US dollars while bilateral all-around cooperation can be significantly enhanced.

Source: Xinhua