French Justice Minister Pascal Clement and visiting Chinese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Dai Bingguo signed a bilateral agreement on extradition in Paris on Tuesday.

The agreement established a legal foundation for China-France cooperation in the fight against crime, in the mutual interest of the two countries, according to Chinese diplomatic sources.

The agreement is of great importance, "particularly for bilateral relations," Clement said in his speech made during the signing ceremony, adding that it will "further strengthen and deepen our judicial cooperation."

"The legal security which is established in the process of judicial cooperation will be the basis of confidence of our two countries' judges when they are called upon to work on extradition cases," Clement said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2007)