Beijing: China has launched an initiative to attract more French students and youth to study and exchange programs, aiming to strengthen educational cooperation with France.
The initiative was announced at the Sino-French Education Development Forum in Paris on Friday. This follows President Xi Jinping’s pledge in May to increase the number of French students studying in China to 10,000 and double the number of European youth exchanges in the next three years.
Ecole Centrale de Lyon student Vivien Deroche, who is applying for a master’s degree in environmental engineering at Tsinghua University, will be one of the first 16 students to come to China with the initiative.
“I believe that the students of the two countries can learn a lot from each other,” said the 22-year-old girl. “This study program will allow me to develop my skills and keep an open mind to the world, especially environmental issues, where international cooperation is important.”
Deroche said he was excited to meet new people and discover the rich culture before heading to China for a few days.
“China is a country with thousands of years of history and rapid development, which I will start studying in the next two years.”
Education Minister Huai Jinpeng said that China aims to expand high-quality exchanges with European youth. This includes supporting joint summer schools between Chinese and European universities, sharing learning resources, and increasing opportunities for young people from France and Europe to learn Chinese.
The initiative also emphasizes collaboration on projects that address common issues such as digital literacy, environmental sustainability and skills development.
“We want to work for a high-quality exchange between educational institutions and youth in France and other European countries,” he said.
The event called for stronger Sino-French cooperation in basic scientific research. Gong Qihuang, president of Peking University, said in a parallel session that it is important to develop talents and make scientific discoveries.
During the forum, the universities of the two countries signed several agreements on engineering education, nuclear energy research and social sciences. In addition, guests were presented with a commemorative album commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Sino-French student exchange.
