China on Monday signed multibillion-dollar contracts with two companies based in France as a visit by Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, showed signs of producing plenty of business deals but little progress on European calls for a stronger renminbi.

Areva, the French nuclear reactor company, and Airbus, the Toulouse-based aircraft maker, announced deals worth a total of almost $23bn as Mr Sarkozy continued a trip on which he is accompanied by dozens of French corporate chief executives.