On December 5, 2005, China and France signed 16 cooperation documents at the Prime Minister's Palace during Premier Wen Jiabao's ongoing official visit to France, pushing bilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new period.

In a press conference co-hosted with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin following the signing ceremony, Wen said China and France are highly complimentary economies and boast huge potential of cooperation. The two countries need to continue to enhance their exchanges and deepen bilateral cooperation in politics, economy, science and technology, culture and education and constantly explore new areas of cooperation. The signing of so many documents between the two countries fully demonstrates the consensus reached between the Chinese and French governments during the visit.

The 16 documents cover a wide range of areas including finance, railway, aviation and space, energy, scientific research and education. In the area of aviation, China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group signed a framework agreement with Airbus on the purchase of 150 aircrafts of the A320 series. In the area of railway, the two countries signed the Financial Protocol between the Governments of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of France to jointly fund the SHITAI railway linking Shijiazhuang and Taiyuan in central China. In the area of energy, the two sides signed the Agreement on the Creation of a Joint Venture of Sinochem-Total Oil Products Co. Ltd between Sinochem and Total. In the area of scientific research, the two countries signed the Letter of Intention on the Establishment of China-France Academy of PH.Ds between the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of France.