中国政府昨日对尼古拉?萨科齐(Nicolas Sarkozy)要求人民币兑欧元汇率加速升值的呼吁置之不理，并告知这位来访的法国总统，将继续“渐进”地推进汇率改革。

China yesterday waved aside a call from Nicolas Sarkozy for accelerated appreciation¹ of the renminbi against the euro, telling the visiting French president it would continue its exchange rate reforms at its own “gradual” pace.

在中国贸易顺差日益扩大之际，在汇率问题上缺乏共识——加之中国与欧盟在食品安全方面的争执，突显中欧之间不断上升的政治敏感度。

The lack of currency consensus² – together with a separate spat³ between Beijing and Brussels on food safety – highlighted the increasing political sensitivity of Sino-EU economic issues amid a soaring Chinese trade surplus.

但通过给予法国大型企业价值约230亿美元的合同，中国政府软化了在人民币汇率问题上的强硬立场，提升了萨科齐让法国在欧洲对华出口中占据更大份额的期望。

However, Beijing softened⁴ its tough stance on the Chinese currency by awarding big French companies contracts worth an estimated $23bn, boosting President Sarkozy’s hopes for a greater share of Europe’s exports to the region.

目前，中国经济迅速增长。在对华出口方面，法国远远落后于德国，只排在第十位，所占市场份额约为1.4%。欧元走强，加深了法国与其它欧洲企业对与美元挂钩经济体出口方面的问题。

France currently lags far behind Germany in exporting to the rapidly growing Chinese economy, and is currently ranked 10th with a market share of roughly 1.4 per cent. The strength of the euro has compounded the problems of French and other European companies exporting to dollar-linked economies.

在同中国国家主席胡锦涛会晤之后，萨科齐呼吁施行“和谐与公平的”汇率机制。

Following a meeting with Hu Jintao, Chinese president, Mr Sarkozy called for currency rates that were “harmonious and fair”.

然而，中国总理温家宝后来向萨科齐表示，中国政府将按照渐进性原则推进汇率机制改革，并且没有承诺改变人民币兑欧元汇率近期走弱的趋势。

However, Wen Jiabao, the premier⁵, later told the French president that Beijing would stick with its gradualist approach to reform of its exchange rate mechanism⁶ and made no commitment to reversing the renminbi's recent decline against the euro.

但中国政府强调，愿意缩小贸易顺差。空中客车公司(Airbus)似乎成了最大的受益者，意外得到160架飞机、价值120亿欧元（合178亿美元）的订单。

Beijing did stress its willingness to narrow the trade surplus. Airbus appears to have been the biggest beneficiary, with the surprise award of a €12bn ($17.8bn) contract for 160 aircraft.

由首席执行官安妮?洛韦容(Anne Lauvergeon，又译罗薇中)执掌的核工程与铀矿集团阿海珐(Areva)宣布签订有史以来最大的合同，设计并建设两个新的核反应堆，而国家控股的公共事业企业法国电力公司(EDF)将通过一家中国合资企业参股这个项目。阿尔卡特-朗迅公司(Alcatel-Lucent)和涡轮机制造商阿尔斯通(Alstom)也分别宣布与中方签署了协议。

Areva, the nuclear engineering and uranium mining group under chief executive Anne Lauvergeon, announced its biggest ever contract to design and build two new nuclear reactors⁷, while EDF, the state-controlled utility, will own a stake through a Chinese joint⁸ venture. Alcatel-Lucent and Alstom, the turbine maker⁹, also announced deals.