President Hu Jintao's visits to France and Portugal will push relations between China and the two European Union (EU) member states to new levels. It will strengthen cooperation between China and the EU on economic and multilateral fronts.

France and China have chosen independent diplomatic paths and cooperated for a steady growth in trade and economic fields.

That Hu and French President Nicolas Sarkozy officiated at the signing of a record trade bill, which includes the sale of more than 100 Airbus planes and deals in nuclear power projects, in Paris on Thursday speaks volume of the great potential of bilateral trade.