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PARIS - A French supermarket chief said Saturday he was taking "very seriously" anti-French protests and boycott calls in China over his country's position on Tibet and the Olympic Games.
A state-run news agency in Beijing reported growing protests against France on Saturday from the capital to the eastern cities of Hefei and Qingdao, and in southwestern Kunming city, and in Wuhan -- without providing any numbers.
It said crowds gathered in front of Carrefour branches, calling for a boycott of the 122 supermarket outlets in China, and brandished slogans against Tibet's independence.
"We're taking the situation very seriously" Jose Luis Duran, president of the board of Carrefour, told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.
"Apart from some localised incidents, we haven't noticed up to today any significant impact on our turnover," he added.
Referring to anti-China protests on April 7 that disrupted the Paris-leg of the Olympic torch relay, Duran said he was "not proud" of the images broadcast around the world and that "a large portion of the Chinese population was very shocked by the incidents".
"Boycotting the Olympic Games would be a mistake" he said, insisting that Carrefour had "supported China's candidacy" to host them.
"The Games were given to China to allow it to demonstrate the progress it has made over 20 years. I don't see why it should be deprived of that opportunity today."
Duran also made it clear that Carrefour never interferes in a country where it has stores' political or religious affairs. "The situation in Tibet is complicated ... I am not going to pass judgement," he added.
The world's second largest retail giant firmly denied suggestions by the Chinese media that it had been supporting the Dalai Lama.
Duran recognised that China had "a clear strategic importance for Carrefour", where the group opened around 20 stores last year.
- AFP /ls
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