The French government said in March it expected China would choose French company Alstom to build a high-speed rail link between Beijing and Shanghai, a US$12 billion project also being sought by Japanese and German groups.
Carrefour, a French supermarket chain that ranks among the world's biggest, has also been aggressively rolling out new stores in China, in fierce competition with Wal-Mart of the US and Metro of Germany.
Other sectors where French firms have been actively chasing opportunities are in aviation, mobile telephones and auto manufacturing.
With business ties growing stronger, France appears keen to further the political tandem developing with China. Both countries, which have permanent seats on the UN Security Council, have shown they are not ready to bow to US hegemony.
In a sign of the importance Chirac gives to the relationship with China, he returned from a G8 summit in the US to see the Chinese vice premier, making no time to pay his last respects to the late US president Ronald Reagan.
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