China, France vow to boost financial, nuclear cooperation

China and France will boost cooperation in financial and nuclear sectors, read a joint statement inked Wednesday by visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Francois Hollande. The two leaders said they welcome the efforts of the two countries' banks and enterprises in developing the offshore Renminbi (RMB) business in Paris, as well as the cooperation between the financial watchdogs of the two countries, which would help turn Paris into an important trade hub of Chinese investment in the euro zone and that of European countries in China. France welcomes the 80 billion yuan (1.28 billion U.S. dollars) quota of RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor distributed by the Chinese side to France, according to the statement. Meanwhile, Beijing and Paris pledged to push ahead with their nuclear cooperation in an all-around way, including enhancing the safety standards of the nuclear power stations that are in service or under construction, boosting the joint exploitation of the Hinkley Point and other projects in Britain and the construction of the two units at Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong Province.