France and China have signed trade deals worth billions of dollars at the start of a state visit by the Chinese President, Hu Jintao. The deals thought to be a total of around twenty billion dollars cover the purchase of more than a hundred airbus-aircraft and agreements on nuclear power. The French authorities say it is the most valuable series of deals, signed on a single visit. At a state dinner, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozi, promised support for reform of the global monetary system.