Beijing and Paris are expected to sign a 1.5-billion-euro deal on nuclear energy today, among several other big ones, as French Prime Minister Francois Fillon meets Chinese leaders in Beijing.

French PM Francois Fillon (L) receives a bouquet of flowers from a young Chinese girl after arriving at Beijing airport.

French media said Fillon is also trying to further warm relations with Beijing and prepare for a possible visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to China around the opening ceremony of the Shanghai World Expo in May 2010.

The French power company Electricite De France, with French nuclear group Areva, are to sign the nuclear deal with Guangdong Nuclear Power Holdings Co, one of the country's two nuclear-energy firms, to build two nuclear power plants in Taishan, Guangdong province, AFP reported.

According to French media, Fillon is also promoting two other related projects here, a nuclear-waste disposal plant and a Sino-French nuclear institute in Guangdong.

The two nations are also likely to sign an agreement to let enginemaker CFM International, a joint venture between General Electric and France's Safran, provide its LEAP-X turbofan engines for the C919, China's first proprietary jumbo jet that is expected to rival the Airbus A320 and Boeing 737, French daily Les Echos said. Deliveries of the C919 are expected to start in 2016.

The new EC175-Z15 helicopter, jointly developed and manufactured by the two sides, has just successfully performed its official maiden flight on Thursday in Marseilles, Southeast France.

The agreements, if finally reached, are likely to be signed after Fillon meets Premier Wen Jiabao during the three-day visit which started yesterday. He is also to meet President Hu Jintao and top legislator Wu Bangguo.

The visit comes as ties between Beijing and Paris gradually lose the shadow cast by Sarkozy's public embracing of the Dalai Lama in December 2008. The move irritated Beijing and delayed a summit between Chinese with EU leaders.

French media said now Paris is eager to revamp its relations with Beijing due to economic concerns.

A recent survey showed only one third of French people believe their country will escape the financial crisis in 2010.

The jobless population in France reached 2.63 million by the end of October, an increase of 650,000 compared with the first quarter in 2008.

On the other side, trade between China and France hit a record high $38.94 billion last year, an increase of 15.7 percent year on year, according to Chinese authorities.

"We need China while seeking solutions to global issues. China is playing a crucial role on the world economic stage," Fillon told Xinhua in a written interview before heading for Beijing.

"Given the lingering financial crisis and weak European and US markets, the slowly recovering French economy is in urgent need of cooperation with emerging markets such as China," said Wang Zhaohui, a researcher on European studies with China Institute of Contemporary International Affairs.