On a firm friendship trail

China and France set to deepen trade and political ties as Paris emerges as a possible offshore settlement center for the yuan

French President Francois Hollande's state visit to China on April 25-26 assumes special significance because, among other things, Paris and Beijing both pursue independent foreign policies.

In 1964, under the presidency of Charles de Gaulle, France became the first Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. In 1973, Georges Pompidou became the first French president and the first head of state of a Western country to pay an official visit to China (former US president Richard Nixon's visit to China more than a year earlier was not an official one).