French labor unions leading a nationwide strike against retirement reform hailed on Tuesday the success of the largest demonstration aimed at forcing the government to bow to the streets' call.

People protest against the retirement reform in Paris, France, Sept. 7, 2010. French labor unions leading a nationwide strike against retirement reform hailed on Tuesday the success of the largest demonstration aimed at forcing the government to bow to the streets' call. About 2.5 million people participated in the strike across the country. [Ying Qiang/Xinhua]

However, President Nicolas Sarkozy insisted on pressing ahead the plan of reform and raising French people's minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, in a bid to create wealth needed to finance pensions and alleviate public spending.

About 2.5 million people participated in the strike across the country. Some 270,000 citizens took to Paris streets to express their refusal of the pension reform plan, according to labor unions' figures, while Paris police said only 80,000 people took part in the demonstration.

"The demonstration was better than expected. It's the largest strike in many years and showed that government's arguments are no longer credible," said Bernard Thibault, leader of CGT, a major trade union.