Honorable Minister Belkacem and President Dardel, presidents, ladies and gentlemen and friends,

Bonjour!

I am happy to visit the ancient yet vibrant Paris Descartes University for the China-France Higher Education Forum, with many people who are in charge of China-France institutions or projects and I feel at home in seeing so many old and new friends.

The fact that the forum has taken "University and Engineering Education" as a theme.is quite meaningful since cooperation in the field of engineering has been a common concern for people in education, technology, and industry in both countries and a major part of pragmatic cooperation.

But, first, let me extend my congratulations to the forum and greetings to all the friends from different communities who support China-France friendship. I had a deeper feeling for the strength of China-France education cooperation after watching an exhibition of the achievements with Minister Belkacem.

The cooperation goes as far back as early 1921 when China established the Nouvel Institut Franco Chinois as its only overseas university in the modern age. and, after diplomatic relations between the two countries were established 52 years ago, education cooperation has gone from student exchanges to cooperation in school administration, and from academic exchanges to scientific research cooperation.

For several years, there have been large numbers of Chinese students in France, with a total of 43,000 in 2015, and France, in turn, is China’s 10th largest source of overseas students, with 10,000 of them now studying in China. And it has 17 Confucius Institutes and three Classrooms. This education cooperation has shown unprecedented development, with engineering education being one of the most fruitful areas.

China has more than 2,300 colleges and universities with engineering majors and more than 10 million students, the largest number in the world. In recent years, it has had a program for nurturing excellent engineers as part of educational reforms and innovation. This June, it became the 18th member of the "Washington Agreement", meaning, the quality of Chinese engineering education has been reorganized and has met international standards.

France has been an early country to improve higher education in engineering and has provided a good education model as one of the world’s bests, with nearly 30,000 engineers graduating from more than 250 engineering schools every year. It and China have a good basis for cooperation in engineering education and have 7 joint engineering schools and 41 education related project in aviation safety, business administration, and design, to name a few.

This cooperation in engineering education has also involved some well-known companies and industrial organizations, for example, the French Aerospace Industries Association which established a scholarship in 1996 to support outstanding young Chinese teachers studying in France.

Companies have also been the biggest beneficiaries of further cooperation in engineering education, for example, Airbus, which has seen a steady rise in its market share in China's civil aviation, accounting for 49 percent.

But, this cooperation could not have been achieved without the enthusiastic support of China’s presidents and many Chinese and French friends, for instance, Mr.Jean Dore who initiated a "4 + 4" project, when he was president of the Ecole Centrale de Lyon that helped train more than 500 engineers for China in just a few years.

And, since his appointment as head of Beihang University‘s Sino-French Engineering College, he has committed himself to developing the best engineers in the country. In addition to his teaching and management, he has sought every opportunity to allow students to practice in France, increasing cooperation between the college and French companies even more.

Then, after the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, he took the lead in collecting donations, and asked French friends to join the effort. His professionalism and kindness towards the Chinese have touched his colleagues and students so deeply that he was named one of "10 meritorious foreign teachers” by students and was given the Chinese government’s "Friendship Award".

It is persons like Mr. Dore promoting educational cooperation who have helped China-France friendship flourish.

Presidents, ladies, gentlemen and friends,

These days, there are technological and industrial revolutions taking place and bringing raal breakthroughs in scientific areas and dramatic technological innovations and new information technologies in big data, cloud computing and the mobile internet are being combined with robotics and intelligent manufacturing technology to transform productiton and consumption. This has stimulateed productivity, but at the same time has brought unprecedented challenges to innovation everywhere.

The Chinese Science and Technology Innovation Conference held 30 days ago was a milestone with more than 4,000 attendees and President Xi Jinping explaining China’s innovative development strategy and goal of building a world-class scientific and technological power, and Premier Li Keqiang announcing China’s plans to develop an innovative country.

We believe that it is only through innovation that the country can face a bright future and vigorous social development. China has seen remarkable achievements over the past 30 years in its reforms and opening up by emancipating people’s minds and focusing on innovation. Today, the Chinese are struggling to achieve a "100-year" goal and the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation, which expecially depend on innovation. Although China’s economy ranks second in the world, its per capita GDP is in 80th place, so China is still the largest developing country. It is the largest manufacturer in all industrial sectors as categorized by the United Nations, but the manufacturing sector is big but not strong and faces pressures from upgrading.

China’s next 5-year plan has the development concepts of coordination, greening, opening-up, and sharing, but innovation is the core for development. First, it will use innovation to drive development by strengthening research, building national multi-purpose laboratories. It will also increase frontier research by implementing major science and technology projects as outlined in its Internet Plus promotion, and getting scientific and technological progress to contribute 60 percent to economic growth by 2020.

Second, since talented personnel are the most important resource in national development, it will speed up the construction of world-class universities and research institutes, develop a modern vocational education system, and get a more active, open policicy for hiring talented people to establish a society where everyone gets the appropriate education and has a chance to make full use of his or her abilities.

Third, it will increase opening-up and cooperation with a winning strategy and create an internationalized, convenient business environment under the rule of law, with strict intellectual property protections. And it will further promote international cooperation in equipment manufacturing and scientific and technological innovation, and set up a global platform for innovation at a higher level and with a wider range.

Presidents, ladies and gentlemen, friends,

Innovation in China will not only benefit the people, it is also bound to bring new opportunities for China-France cooperation in various fields. Its innovation-driven development strategy and France’s “Development Plan 2025” and “Innovation Agenda 2030” are well-coordinated while the “Made in China 2025” strategy echoes the “New Industrial France”.

In 2015, President Xi called for pragmatic cooperation and cultural exchanges during his meeting with President Hollande, who promoted the "Innovation France" campaign during his stay in China. I believe that as long as we both seize these opportunities, China-France cooperation in education and innovation will usher in a brilliant future.

Now, I take this opportunity to share my four expectations with you: First, China and France need to increase cooperation in schools and related projects after judging their succeses in the past. They need to cultivate cooperation among engineers and talented technical personnel, promote cooperation in higher education and innovation in training, and get higher education cooperation to push cultural exchanges.

Second, the two should lead innovation in their respective countries and strengthen cooperation in major areas of innovation, such as energy and resources, aviation and aerospace, information and telecommunications, energy conservation and environmental protection, genetic engineering, and agriculture for greater integration of industry, universities, and research institutes and support other cooperation.

Third, the two need to expand the channels of international cooperation and communications in certification of engineering education, for example the Washington Agreement and European EUR-ACE Label , and build a new engineering education system that fits new science and technology development trends and promotes sustainable development for society.

Fourth, the two sides need to assist in the growth and development of youth widening their horizons, sense of cooperation, and inclusive spirit. For this, China will provide at least 500 scholarships each year over the next 5 years for Chinese engineers to study in France, and will welcome more French students.

Innovation is the power behind progress and cooperation is the bridge to the future. I believe that if we join hands, both of our countries will create a better future in engineering education and infuse the strategic partnership with new energy!

Thank you!

Liu Yandong, addressing the China-France Higher Education Forum on "University and Engineering Education”

Paris Descartes University, June 30