By Crispian Balmer
PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Friday that prickly relations between France and China should not cause lasting damage to commercial ties, and that a diplomatic row would blow over.
China abruptly cancelled a summit with the European Union, scheduled for Monday, to protest plans by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to meet the Dalai Lama in Poland next month.
France holds the EU's rotating presidency and Beijing has suggested that French trade interests might be hurt by the Polish meeting, but Kouchner played down the risks.
"I don't think one should overemphasise the negative or perhaps damaging aspects of this temporary worsening of our relations with China," he told France Inter radio.
"Some industrialists are worried, which is very legitimate, but as far as I know at the moment nothing has being cancelled ... I believe contracts will be honoured," he added.
China was France's eighth largest export market according to 2007 trade data and the fifth largest importer and has some major contracts outstanding that are not yet finalised.
European planemaker Airbus, which is headquartered in France, received an order last year from China for 160 aircraft, its largest ever single order in volume terms, but only 140 of these have been confirmed on the Airbus order book.
Airbus denied on Thursday that the cancellation of the summit had scuppered any negotiations with China and Kouchner said he did not think the Airbus contracts were at risk, saying the planes were being assembled in China.
"The Airbus planes are Chinese-built," he said.
Sarkozy has said he will meet the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in Poland next month, ending months of speculation over whether the politically sensitive meeting would go ahead.
The Dalai Lama visited France in August but did not meet Sarkozy during his two-week stay, which coincided with the Beijing Olympic Games, prompting critics to accuse the French leader of caving into pressure from China over the issue.
French officials have sought to play down the significance of the Polish meeting, which will not be the main focus of Sarkozy's trip, and Kouchner said German and British leaders had already held talks with the Dalai Lama.
"That didn't cause lasting damage to trade between China and their two countries and I hope that, despite this sad gesture, which we regret, we think trade relations as well as the political and friendly relations between China and France will be restored," he said.
"What is important is that we always have the same bond of friendship with the Chinese people and things will improve. Our intentions are innocent," he added.
China took over Tibet in 1950 and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule. He has since lived in India, travelling the world to promote his cause, and is still widely revered in his homeland. (Editing by Matthew Jones)