BEIJING: China and France signed on Monday nuclear, aviation and other contracts that officials said were worth around 30 billion dollars, an amount French President Nicolas Sarkozy described as unprecedented.
"The total amount of these contracts has never been matched before," Sarkozy told his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao as they met in Beijing's Great Hall of the People before the signing ceremony, according to a journalist there.
The contracts included one eight-billion-euro (11.9-billion-dollar) deal for the delivery of two third-generation nuclear reactors by French firm Areva, and an agreement worth more than 17 billion dollars for 160 Airbus planes.
The total amounts of the deals -- both in industries currently undergoing speedy expansion in China -- were given by Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon and officials involved in the Airbus talks.
According to the long-anticipated Areva deal, the French company will deliver two European Pressurised water Reactors, or EPRs for China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC) in southern China.
"It's a record. In the history of the civilian nuclear industry, there's never been a deal of this magnitude," Areva chief executive Anne Lauvergeon told reporters on Monday ahead of the official signing.
Areva and CGNPC also agreed to set up a company that will operate the two EPRs until 2026, according to a second agreement.
In a third deal, CGNPC will take over 35 percent in the operations of three African uranium mines which Areva gained control over this summer after acquiring Canadian uranium producer UraMin.
The Airbus purchase includes 110 planes from the short-haul A320 family and 50 A330 wide-body passenger airliners, according to the source.
Ten of the 50 A330s will go to China Southern Airlines, the nation's largest carrier by fleet size, which made that part of the deal public in late October.
China's domestic air traffic is expected to double every five years and aviation authorities believe three of their airlines will be among the world's top 10 both in terms of passenger traffic and revenue by 2020.
