According to Lechervy, there will be no surprises in the messages Hollande intends to deliver to China. Paris aims to have a candid dialogue with Beijing without letting its domestic politics influence its external strategy, he said.

Paul Jean-Ortiz, Hollande's diplomatic adviser, said France intends to establish a closer, more solid strategic partnership with China in all major areas.

"It is necessary for the world's second-largest and fifth-largest economies to have direct and close relations based on mutual trust," he said.

Wu Baiyi, a European studies researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said a rapidly developing China brings many opportunities to the world, and France hopes to seize these opportunities to boost its economic development.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.

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