Sino-French scientific and technological cooperation holds great promise

France was the first Western power to establish diplomatic relations with China and also the first Western power to sign a government to government science and technology cooperation agreement with China. For over 60 years, China France scientific and technological cooperation has continued to deepen. The two sides have carried out close cooperation in high-tech fields such as civil nuclear energy, high-speed rail, aviation, space, and health, and have achieved fruitful results. This has played an important role in the development of science and technology and the enhancement of scientific research capabilities in both countries, and has also provided important support for promoting high-level development of bilateral relations.

The world is currently undergoing a great transformation unseen in a century, with a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation entering an active period. Although the competition among major powers is further intensifying, strengthening international scientific and technological cooperation is still the trend. Further deepening practical cooperation between China and France in the field of science and technology not only ensures stable and far-reaching progress in key innovation areas between the two countries, but also has significant implications for breaking through the technological blockade imposed by the United States and the West on China.

For a long time, France has been continuously promoting technological cooperation with China. Unlike advantageous industries such as Germany, Japan, and South Korea that cluster in the fields of machinery and transportation equipment manufacturing, France benefited from its post-war industrial policies, with its industrial, military, and technological systems forming its own entity. Based on the tradition of independence and self-reliance, French diplomacy has established the special position of China France relations in the field of practical cooperation, especially in large projects with high technological content.

France is still one of the earliest Western countries to invest in and establish joint ventures with China. It is also the first Western country to engage in civil nuclear energy cooperation with China, the first Western country to sign a government to government science and technology cooperation agreement with China, and the first Western country to open direct air routes with China. In the early stages of reform and opening up, France supported China's construction of Liaoyang Petrochemical, Wuhan and Guangdong automobile projects, and established iconic projects such as Tianjin "Dynasty" wine through Sino French joint ventures. Since the 21st century, Sino French industrial cooperation has entered the fast lane. In terms of nuclear power cooperation, China and France have successively built the Ling'ao Nuclear Power Station Phase I and the Taishan Nuclear Power Station, which introduced French EPR third-generation nuclear power technology, based on the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station.

High technological content is a major highlight of China France cooperation, and the pragmatic cooperation on high-tech projects between the two sides is progressing steadily. Since the signing of the Science and Technology Cooperation Framework Agreement between China and France in 1978, the two sides have initiated a series of significant scientific and technological innovation collaborations, achieving remarkable results in various fields such as joint laboratories, aviation, aerospace, prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, high-tech zones and competitive clusters, electric vehicles, information technology, gut metagenomics, ecological environment, and international large-scale scientific facilities.

In recent years, China and France have continued to promote practical cooperation in the fields of civil nuclear energy, aerospace, agricultural and food products, and the bilateral trade volume has reached a record high in the context of the COVID-19. Against the backdrop of the United States' attempt to decouple from China and the EU's increasing strategic competitiveness towards China, France has withstood pressure and stabilized the large plate of third-party market cooperation between China and France globally. In order to promote the approval of the China Europe Comprehensive Investment Agreement, it actively mediated and advanced high-tech strategic projects such as maritime satellites and astronomical satellites between China and France as scheduled, objectively contributing to China's scientific and technological development.

On the one hand, the mechanism for scientific and technological cooperation between China and France is well-established, with the two countries signing agreements on scientific and technological exchange and cooperation, environmental protection cooperation, peaceful use of nuclear energy cooperation, and health and medical science cooperation. On the other hand, there are various forms of scientific and technological cooperation between China and France. From the initial general personnel exchanges, to project cooperation in basic research and high-tech fields, to major scientific and technological engineering project cooperation in market and technology interaction, it has now expanded to cooperative research and platform construction in important scientific and technological fields.

Since Macron became the President of France in 2017, France's "great power ambition" has continuously emerged, seizing the discourse power and influence in multiple global governance areas such as climate change, biodiversity, artificial intelligence, and quantum technology. At the same time, China is playing an increasingly important role in the process of global governance reform. In recent years, many Chinese proposals have been put forward in these areas, which are in line with French ideas and in sharp contrast to the United States' withdrawal from the group and breach of contract. Therefore, the French side is well aware that promoting global governance reform and advancing global governance of scientific and technological innovation cannot be achieved without China.

It is worth noting that Sino French technological cooperation is constantly exploring new fields. Taking the May 2024 Sino French summit as an opportunity, China and France signed a joint statement on artificial intelligence and global governance in the emerging field of artificial intelligence, jointly promoting the development and security of artificial intelligence and strengthening global governance of artificial intelligence.

Currently, the prospects for Sino French technological cooperation are broad, and both sides can expand their cooperation margins in the following areas.

One is the field of quantum computing. China's massive computing power resources and application scenarios are highly complementary to France's basic research advantages. Both sides can start by carrying out relevant technological cooperation and promote breakthroughs in all field cooperation.

The second is in the field of green and low-carbon. Both sides are highly coordinated in leading global ecological governance reforms such as addressing climate change, biodiversity, and ocean governance. In the future, there is enormous potential for research and development cooperation in areas such as biodiversity, land degradation prevention and control, ocean conservation, energy transition, green decarbonization, and green hydrogen.

The third is in the field of agricultural technology. Agriculture is the foundation of France's founding and a key area of scientific and technological cooperation between China and France in recent years. With the continuous promotion of the full chain rapid collaboration mechanism from French farms to Chinese dining tables, both parties can further carry out joint research in the construction of joint laboratories for wheat and other grain crop breeding, soil health, and prevention of soil degradation, and increase the exchange mechanism for agricultural researchers.

The fourth is in the field of aerospace research. France is a major space technology country with many unique technologies, but due to insufficient financial resources, in recent years it has often used carriers related to space powers such as the United States and Russia to conduct research. The Chinese "Tiangong" space station, "Chang'e" lunar spacecraft, and "Tianwen" experimental module are important platforms for China France cooperation in this field in the future, promoting cooperation in space science exploration, climate change monitoring, lunar and deep space exploration, and other aerospace fields.

In addition, enhancing the exchange of scientific research talents between China and France, further implementing the China France scientific research exchange partnership plan, especially encouraging more scientific research institutions and universities of both sides to establish partnerships, will provide more joint R&D opportunities for the high-tech R&D teams of both countries, and promote high-level opening up to help Chinese path to modernization. (The author is an associate researcher of the Cultural Development Promotion Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the the Belt and Road International Think Tank.)