Premier Li Keqiang, in New York as part of his visit to the Western Hemisphere, also met on Tuesday with French President Francois Hollande and attended the Leaders Summit on Refugees at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

In his meeting with Hollande, Li said China hopes to accelerate its cooperation with France in areas such as airlines, nuclear power and joint development of third markets.

China is supportive of their joint efforts in the civilian nuclear industry, he said, and is hopeful about the planned nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in England, he added. The plant is to be built by France's EDF and partly financed by China.