French Socialist Presidential candidate Segolene Royal visits the Great Wall of China in Badaling, on the outskirts of Beijing, Jan. 6, 2007.   Jan. 7 - French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, hoping to burnish her foreign-policy credentials, opened a visit to China on Saturday by urging France to see China's rising economic power as an opportunity.

 

“China is a huge market for French companies that demonstrate perseverance, creativity, will,” Royal told Associate Press while touring the Great Wall, after an overnight flight from France.

 

Her three-day visit comes as China has emerged as a controversial issue in the French presidential contest between Royal, a Socialist, and Nicolas Sarkozy, the candidate of the French right.

 

According to Associate Press, Royal was scheduled to meet a senior official in charge of foreign affairs on Sunday. She is scheduled to meet Monday with a member of the senior leadership, amid visits with Chinese students and a stop-off at a French telecommunications research center.

 

“It is important to get out and get away from the national debates to realize what's at stake internationally, and to see how France is perceived, listened to and respected abroad,” Royal told reporters Saturday. “Her message is strong.”