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China hails Li's

French trip

BEIJING: China's official media gave a rapturous reception Monday to Premier Li Peng's visit to France, hailing the trip as a watershed for China's future economic and trade relations with Europe.

A strongly Eurocentric commentary on the front-page of the People's Daily also carried a clear warning to Washington that the United States should no longer take for granted its paramount influence as China's largest western trading partner.

The Communist Party mouthpiece said Li's trip had witnessed "the elevation of Sino-French and Sino-European economic and trade relations to a new level."

Li returned to China on Sunday after a five-day trip, during which he signed a 1.5 billion dollar order for 30 Airbus A-320 passenger jets and three A-340 long-haul aircraft.

The deal was seen as a major blow to the major foreign player in the Chinese aviation market, Boeing Co. of the United States. In a further snub to the United States, Li signed a letter of intent with European consortium, Aero International Asia, for cooperation on the development of a 100-seat aircraft -- a project Boeing had lobbied hard to clinch.

Both deals reflected current political and economic tensions between Beijing and Washington, and the People's Daily commentary sought to rub salt in the wound by stressing the benefits of strenghtened Chinese cooperation with Europe.

"Developing relations with the European Union has taken an important position in China's foreign policy," it said, adding that Li's visit had pushed forward the agenda of "establishing new ties and partnerships for the 21st century" agreed at the Asia-Europe summit in Bangkok in late February.

"The fact that one or two countries control the world no longer enjoys popular support at a time when the global trend is towards multi-polarity," the commentary said.-AFP