The Sino-French ties sustain 60-year test with a promising future

It is time to review the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of France's recognition of the People's Republic of China to define the future of the relations between the two countries for the decade to come.

This was an excellent vintage. The result was brilliant and promising. No fewer than 1200 Chinese delegations have come to France, mostly in Paris but also in regional capitals such as Lyon, Nice and Toulouse. This symbolic figure bears witness to an unprecedented interest.

Every Chinese province responded to the invitation bringing in their wake thousands of entrepreneurs, businessmen, engineers, scientists, lawyers, artists and even chefs. Chinese cities and districts have also drawn up their respective strengths. Moreover, China Central

Television (CCTV) hosted numerous personalities in the world of arts, sciences and business during the Olympics games in a Paris fancy theatre. If some conferences were reserved for the happy few, most were open to all audiences.

The conferences brought together over 50,000 participants and gave rise to constructive initiatives. Beyond official speeches and statements of purpose, questions of any sort have been asked and replied.

Given today's tense international commercial issues, and a somewhat atmosphere of distrust and suspicion, all these meetings have allowed to look to the future positively and in high spirits. This influx of new blood has served to enrich the initiatives aimed at launching new projects.

What are the main underlying forceful ideas?

All agree that collecting, exchanging and analyzing information is the primary basis of any cooperation. It requires knowledge, experience and above all the tenacity to work tirelessly. It requires humbleness to go outside one’s comfort zone. Each must listen and then we all find together the best plan to make greater progress.

Among the strong ideas there emerged the conviction that China needs France as France needs China. France is experiencing an industrial decline and a review of its welfare systems (pensions, health) while China has been going through some challenges. Both countries can do better by singing from the same hymn sheet.

All subjects were addressed from the luxury segment to the production machinery, from the agricultural field to the pharmaceutical laboratory. The list is long. Among many, it is worth noting some valuables actions planned.

The setting up of pilot industrial projects with the prospect of contributing to the reindustrialization of French local economic fabric as well as strengthening the position of Chinese international companies is a top priority. Proposals will be tabled in the fields of electric cars and medical devices, by and large, to any industrial chain by adapting the operating procedures resulting from the industrial research work.

Within the framework of trade, an office of certifications and norms dedicated to the Chinese industrial companies that are looking to get involved in the French energy savings will be implemented. This will greatly benefit to reduce drastically the France oil (40 Mtoe in 2023) and gas importation (481 terawatt hours of superior calorific power of natural gas by pipelines). Under the model of Shein or Temu, the build-up of an energy-efficient French Chinese commercial platform is on the drawing board.

On the artificial intelligence front, as Gilles Fiore, an AI engineer, points out: "Chinese technology is underappreciated in France. There is a lack of awareness and understanding of its inventiveness as, for example, DeepSeek with its 671 billion parameters (the "neurons" of AI) 1.6 times more than Meta's Llama 3.1, previously considered a benchmark in the field. This is a competitor to OpenAI".

In order to fill this gap, initiatives were launched to bring together French and Chinese engineers around common AI projects.

In the food sector, it is relevant to mention the setting up of a pilot farm for the development of true Chinese livestock sector with a genetic library according to the French know-how. This will help to reinforce the quality of the food stream and to instill greater confidence in what we are eating.

In the realm of sport, thanks to the self-will of Jose Fazenda, a well-known football journalist, the French first league teams are expected to tour in China in the summer 2025 in order to attract a wider public in the Chinese stadiums.

At the end of the day, as the scholar Christophe Dubois Damien once mentioned: "France and China have framed their own path of success. There is a convergence of views between both countries regarding the actions to be taken and to draw up a coherent strategy to achieve stable growth".

The 2008 Olympics' slogan "One world, one Dream" and the 2024 Olympics' mirror this constitutive unity.

The author is member of the Charles de Gaulle Foundation, Secretary-General of OPLAA, an AI business intelligence think tank. 

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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