For a long time, France has enjoyed a positive image among the Chinese. The Enlightenment philosophy, the French Revolution and the Declaration of the Human and Citizen Rights are of remarkable influence in China.

And so is the historical French culture, which boasts numerous masters in literature of the 19th century, such as Victor Hugo, Honore de Balzac and Emile Zola. They have become household names in China.

During the 1920s and 1930s, some of the first generation of New China's leaders, including Zhou Enlai, Chen Yi and Deng Xiaoping, studied in France. That history had a pioneering impact on the Sino-French relationship.

In January 1964, France established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, being the earliest among the leading industrial Western countries. This helped Beijing to get rid of its isolation from international affairs.

Friendly history

The French had already shown great interest in China in the 18th century. And such interests were more in spirit than in commerce.

In the 19th century, France under the Third Republic reached its peak. It was among Western powers that were then building concessions and carving up spheres of influence in China.

But at that time, Victor Hugo stood out as the sole literate in the West to expose the crime of looting and burning down Yuanmingyuan (the Old Summer Palace) in Beijing by the invading Anglo-French Allied Forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.

Andr Malraux narrated in his works "La Condition Humaine (1933, Man's Fate)" the massacre of communists in Shanghai in 1927.

The novel was listed in books introducing the origin of the Chinese revolution in the history of world literature.

In the late 19th century, translations of important Chinese and French works began to appear in both nations, which displayed the reciprocity between China and France in a clearer manner.

The Chinese often describe the special friendship with France as "romantic."

This is not accurate as the word should be of mixed meaning related to free thoughts and actions. It implies that emotion weighs more than courtesy. It defines a character that is unique, heroic and creative.

In China's trends of thoughts, the word should be granted to Qu Yuan, who embraced lofty, free and tragic spirits. And the word would also fit the images of Jia Baoyu, hero of "Dream of the Red Mansion" ("Hongloumeng").

When the Chinese say that the French are romantic, they are not outsiders, for the Chinese culture has a romantic face itself.

The reason why Chinese think highly of and favour the French culture is because they also pursue the values the French culture expresses.

The two nations walked a long way together, yet have never been face-to-face until today.

Mutual exchanges

Political exchanges between Chinese and French leaders have never been so frequent.

Last year saw 14 visits on the ministerial level and one mutual visit on the premier level.

And there will be more in 2006, including the historical mutual visits by presidents of French Parliament and the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China.

An exchanging project involving 400 Chinese youngsters and 400 French peers will come into practice this year. The event is without precedent in the history of interaction between the two nations.

The great success of the Culture Years in China and France over the past two years is leading the two countries in the direction of mutual benefits. One such example is the Sino-French "Exchanging" Art Festival held in spring.

Last October, the Chinese Government declared its support of signing the international convention of protecting diverse cultures.

Since November 2004, China has founded several Confucius institutes, following the example of the Alliance Franceaise.

And the Centre Culture Franceais de Peking is the first officially approved resident foreign cultural institute in China.

These are all symbols of the co-operative partnership in cultural policy between the two countries. Another example is for the first time, a Chinese director was elected chairman of the Cannes Film Festival this year.

In France, a book, titled "China changes the world," has recently come off the press.

The development of China is indeed changing the world, which requires all its co-operative partners, including France, to adjust their policies.

The author is Minister Counselor of the French Embassy in Beijing. He delivered the speech at the French subsidiary of the Beijing-based Western Returned Scholars Association on February 8 this year

(China Daily 10/25/2006 page17)