Paris rolls over for Beijing

“France-China: the reconciliation contracts,” headlines Les Echos. On the first day of the Chinese President Xu Jintao’s official visit to France, industrialists hoping for “a harvest of contracts” are “walking on eggs.” The business daily explains that “major deals depend on Chinese government approval.” None too happy about a meeting between President Sarkozy and the Dalai-Lama in 2008, Beijing postponed the signing of a number of contracts. Now the French president is eager to restore good relations — “a position recently confirmed when the Nobel Peace prize was awarded to imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.” Les Echos remarks that analysts were quick to comment on “the eloquent silence of the Elysée.”