China is optimistic that its trade with France could recover from its slump during the global finacial crisis, a Chinese diplomat said Tuesday.
Commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Paris Ma She told reporters that trade volume between the two countries had been falling since
the third quarter of 2008, with China's exports to France declining significantly.
According to China's customs data for the first three quarters of this year, the two countries' trade volume was currently about 24.6 billion U.S. dollars, down 15.6 percent from the same period last year. It was the first year-on-year decline since 1996.
China's exports to France in the first three quarters fell 13.7 percent to about 14.9 billion dollars, with imports down 18.5 percent to 9.6
billions dollars.
Despite the global economic downturn, Ma said, China increased investment in France, including mergers with local companies and new factories.
China has about 100 investment projects in France, creating more than 8,000 jobs, according to Invest in France Agency.
Ma said that China and France were both important economies and cooperated in fields such as trade, energy, transportation and environmental
protection.
China's top political adviser Jia Qinglin told French Polynesia high commissioner Adolphe Colrat last Friday that China-France relations were back on track and showed a sound momentum for development.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde visited China last month with a delegation of leaders from 25 large business groups, and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon is expected to visit China soon. Meanwhile, Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming will lead a business delegation to France.