Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) shakes hands with visiting French President Jacques Chirac during a signing ceremony in Beijing, yesterday. -Xinhua

China and France yesterday signed a joint statement and 14 cooperation agreements ranging from aviation, nuclear power utilization to prevention of infectious diseases.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting French President Jacques Chirac both agreed that Sino-French relationship has become "an example" for friendly cooperation among countries with different historical backgrounds, cultural traditions and development stages.

Chirac, who arrived here on Wednesday afternoon on a four-day state visit, held talks with Hu for two hours in the Great Hall of the People before witnessing the signing of a series of agreements, including an over arching document titled the Sino-French Joint Statement.

The 14 agreements, include a framework agreement and a letter of intent for 150 Airbus A320 aircraft and a contract worth 1.2 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars) for the delivery of 500 freight locomotives from Alstom SA of France to China.

The multi-billion-dollar arrangement represents the largest deal in the history of the Chinese aviation industry.

Acknowledging the bilateral economic and trade cooperation progressed rapidly with trade volume being quadrupled in ten years, the two presidents expressed their satisfaction with bilateral relations that are unprecedentedly close and full of trust.

The two sides decided in the joint statement to expand the strategic exchange and cooperation to seven key fields which are energy, aerospace and aviation, railway, telecommunication, financial service, agriculture, food processing and environmental protection.

According to the statement, China and France decide to forge closer cooperation on the nuclear power utilization which includes the establishment of the joint ventures in the agreed fields concerning the nuclear power generation.

The two leaders are also satisfied with the increasing exchanges between Chinese and French businesses, especially those among the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME), promising to continue to boost the exchanges between the two businesses, especially those among the SMEs.

Accompanying Chirac is a 30-member French business delegation keen to boost economic and trade ties between the two countries in key fields such as aeronautics, nuclear energy, railway transportation, telecommunications and financial services.

This is Chirac's fourth and probably the last visit to China as French president as his presidency will come to an end in 2007. He is widely regarded as a friendly policy-maker and active promoter of ties with China.

In the statement, the two leaders also expressed serious concern in the joint statement over the nuclear test announced by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Oct. 9, saying the test goes against the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, as well as efforts of the international community to strengthen international non-proliferation.

The statement said that the two countries support the Security Council Resolution 1718, and urge the DPRK to abide by its commitment to denuclearization of the peninsula.

The two sides hope all parties will stick to peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue through dialogue and consultation, and strive for an early resumption of the six-party talks, the joint statement said.

China and France also urged the European Union (EU) in the statement to lift its arms embargo against China that has been in place since 1989 and grant China market economy status.

"The two sides believe that the European Union should take the EU-China expanding partnership into full consideration, most notably by lifting the arms embargo which is no longer pertinent to the present situation," said the statement.

The two leaders vowed to continue their efforts to deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the European Union, according to the joint statement.

They also agreed that, in order to solve the problems that have emerged in the China-EU trade relations, both China and the European Union should conduct dialogue and negotiations based on an equal footing and in accordance with WTO regulations.