Contributing to Strengthening Science and Technology Cooperation between France and China (International Forum)

The leaders of France and China fully recognize the importance of protecting biodiversity. During the visit of French President Macron to China in November 2019, the two countries jointly issued the Beijing Initiative on Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change, making biodiversity a key topic of scientific cooperation between the two countries

I am deeply honored to have won the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award. As a biologist, I have had the privilege of collaborating effectively with numerous Chinese colleagues in the past few years. Winning the Chinese Government Friendship Award is not only a recognition of my personal work, but also a recognition of the precious friendship between me and my Chinese colleagues.

25 years ago, my family and I first visited China, and the rapid development of China left a deep impression on me. I am well aware of the crucial role that science and technology play in China's development process. From the perspective of technological application, there is a successful interaction between research laboratories and enterprises in China. In recent years, China has provided strong support for basic research driven by curiosity, which is very wise. This type of research may not directly generate economic benefits, but it is preparing for future innovative breakthroughs.

The professional competence of scientific researchers is crucial for international scientific cooperation. The researchers from Hainan University, Hainan Normal University, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University who have collaborated with me have high professional qualities, and their enthusiasm and vitality deeply inspire me. Our cooperation is based on the consensus between France and China in strengthening biodiversity conservation. Both France and China believe that global biodiversity conservation is of great significance, especially with far-reaching impacts on global sustainable development. In recent years, Chinese scholars have achieved remarkable research results in the field of zoology, with a significant increase in the number and quality of related academic publications. Many research results have been published in top academic journals, which is an impressive achievement.

Biodiversity is a gold mine for biomedical innovation. Many drugs are developed by extracting molecules from plants, and animal defense mechanisms also have enormous medical value.

The leaders of France and China fully recognize the importance of protecting biodiversity. During the visit of French President Macron to China in November 2019, the two countries jointly issued the Beijing Initiative on Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change, making biodiversity a key topic of scientific cooperation between the two countries. In the spirit of initiative and on the basis of the existing cooperation between the scientific researchers of the two countries, CNES and the Chinese Academy of Sciences agreed to further strengthen cooperation in the field of biodiversity, so as to inject new vitality into the scientific cooperation between the two countries.

China is playing an increasingly important role in addressing global challenges and promoting global sustainable development. In the future, I will continue to actively participate in cooperation with my Chinese counterparts and make new contributions to improving the level of scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation between France and China.

(The author is a recipient of the 2023 Chinese Government Friendship Award, a member of the Executive Committee of the International Zoological Society, and an academician of the French Academy of Sciences)

(The material is sourced from official media/online news. The images are from the internet and have been hacked or deleted.)