Sino-French relations grow more intimate

China has tested some new diplomatic concepts with France, such as strategic partnership, culture year, youth exchanges, and then expanded them to other countries, said the French Ambassador to China, Herve Ladsous.

"The Sino-French relationship has been going exceedingly well and has reached a point now where both of us use the word 'intimacy'," Ladsous told China Daily recently in an exclusive interview.

"We have made a lot of progress and we are looking forward to even deeper (relations) together," he added.

Since there are a lot of exchanges taking place between the two countries, the challenge is not just focusing on short-term events, but making the ties more permanent and maintaining the spirit of the exchanges, the 57-year-old ambassador said.

Ladsous said the closeness does not mean that the distinguishing characteristics of both sides would be lost in a melting pot, especially in the case of cultural exchanges.

"Regarding to our cultural exchanges, with crossed cultural years or Festival Croisement, it means that it is not only a promotion of French culture in China or Chinese culture in France, but a matter of getting our people to understand each other, to work together, and create things together," he pointed out.

Cultural exchange

This spring, the second edition of cultural Festival Croisement performed more than 100 events in 10 cities of China, including Carmen along with Chinese artists in Shanghai.

"Of course, we didn't just do it in China. Next year, Chinese actors, singers and musicians will give their version of Carmen to France," the ambassador said.

"It is more than exchange. They are working together to create a new art event."

The youth exchange program was initiated a year and half ago when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visited Paris. Last year, 400 French youths visited China, including 100 artists, 100 business people, 100 political and social leaders, and 100 scientific researchers, according to Ladsous.

This year, 100 young Chinese political leaders and 100 artists already visited France. Another group of 100 young Chinese scientists and 100 Chinese youth business people are expected to visit France this year.

"I invited the youth artists to the French Embassy three weeks ago, the day before they left for France. It was a wonderful group, with actors, painters, calligraphers and models," Ladsous said.

"The purpose of the visit is to get them to meet with their French counterparts and establish joint projects such as ballets, concerts and movies."

Ladsous also noted that former French President Jacques Chirac was the first foreign leader to visit the Terra-Cotta Warriors in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, in 1978, when he was major of Paris.

"It illustrates the extent to which President Chirac was a friend of China and an admirer of Chinese culture and arts," he noted.

"He (Chirac) is also very knowledgeable in terms of Chinese arts, such as Chinese bronze and poetry," he added.

The ambassador said that the Confucius institutes are also very successful in promoting Chinese culture in the world, especially in France, where four already settled.

Fruitful exchanges have also occurred through tourism, with 600,000 Chinese visiting France and 400,000 French tourists coming to China last year.

Ladsous said he has noted an increasing number of young Chinese newly-weds now choose to honeymoon in Paris, one of the most romantic cities in the world.

The ambassador himself also travels around China as much as he can.

"I tried to go to see various provinces. It is important to get a feel of different places, and I always travel with a delegation of French companies," he said.

Ambassador Ladsous added that he was trying to bring his compatriots to China and gave them an opportunity to talk to local authorities about business options or other forms of cooperation.

This month, the ambassador visited Northeast China and is expected to visit Central China to inspect some Sino-French joint programs.

Educational cooperation

Education is another area where cooperation with France has great potential and that has already made significant progress.

Last year, there were 25,000 Chinese students studying in France, and the number of new students increased almost 40 percent in the first half of 2007 compared to the previous year.

"We will do all we can to encourage them to study in France and take a number of measures to facilitate the application process of foreign students, especially those from China," said Ladsous, adding that measures to help Chinese students find part-time jobs to pay part of their tuition fees, or an extra period of six months after graduation to find a full-time job were also on the cards.

(China Daily 07/13/2007 page18)