Leaders oppose trade barriers

Open markets urged

"We should resolve the trade imbalance at a political level and increase bilateral trade through opening the markets rather than closing markets or turning to a currency war," Hollande said.

Xi said that China is willing to import more products from France and expects France to "advance the EU to loosen the restraints on advanced exports to China".

China's trade with the debt-troubled EU dropped 1.9 percent from a year earlier to $124.41 billion in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 12.8 percent of its total trade, while the country's overall trade rose 13.4 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs.

France is China's fourth-largest trade partner in the EU while China is France's largest trade partner in Asia. Bilateral trade between China and France reached $11.23 billion in the first quarter of this year, declining 6.8 percent from a year earlier. Chinese exports dropped 6.7 percent to $5.96 billion, and imports went down 6.8 percent to $5.27 billion, according to the General Administration of Customs.

Xi encouraged enterprises from the world's second- and fifth-largest economies to jointly expand cooperation in other markets.

Hollande said: "We need China's growth to boost the development of Europe, and China also needs a strong Europe. Meanwhile, economic balance is very important."

In a January visit to Beijing, French Minister of Foreign Trade Nicole Bricq said that the French trade deficit with China reached 27 billion euros ($35.17 billion) in 2011, compared with the country's overall trade deficit of 74 billion euros.

Hollande added that the EU managed to remain stable and integrated, which is indispensable for the zone's economic growth. He called on the world, especially emerging economies, to have confidence in the EU's economic recovery.