Eurocopter, the Marseilles-based European civil and military helicopter manufacturer and the leading firm in the industry, established close contact with China back in the 1970s. It is now one of China's major partners for cooperation.
Touring the Eurocopter on Wednesday to gain a better understanding of the big projects cooperation carried out between the two sides, Wu said China, with a fast and steady growing economy, is providing business opportunities and serves as an engine for the world economic recovery and development, while France is leading in such fields as nuclear power, aerospace and railway.
With the two economies highly complementary to each other, Wu urged the companies of both sides to seize these opportunities so as to give full play to the big projects, which are demonstrating an exemplary role in bilateral cooperation.
His enthusiasm for upgrading big projects cooperation could also be witnessed in his visit to the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) in Cadarache near Marseilles on Wednesday.
ITER is an 11-billion-euro (15.5-billion-U.S. dollar) multinational experiment to study the scientific and technical feasibility of the world's most advanced nuclear fusion reactor. The device is described as an "artificial sun" as it will create conditions similar to those occurring in solar nuclear fusion reactions.
If successful, the project could generate infinite, safe and clean energy to replace fossil fuels such as oil and coal.