Consolidating the Foundation of Public Opinion

AS the world goes through transformationand turbulence not seen in a century，China and the EU， as two importantforces， should maintain their partnership，have more dialogue and cooperation， anddeepen strategic communication. They shouldalso enhance strategic mutual trust， build strategicconsensus， and carry out strategic collaborationfor the stable and healthy development oftheir relations and make new contributions toglobal peace and development.

This was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s messagewhen he went to Europe on a state visit inMay， covering France， Serbia and Hungary.

As the U.S. adopts a “small yard， high fence”strategy to suppress China’s development in scienceand technology， talents and other fields， itis strategically important for China to strengthenall-round， multi-level and wide-ranging talentexchanges and cooperation with Europe. It’s alsoimportant to consolidate public opinion for thedevelopment of bilateral relations.

People-to-people exchanges are a cornerstoneof China-EU relations. President Xi has said thatChina and Europe， “two major forces advocatingmultipolarity，” should strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges for better communication.China and Europe have carried outmwUzEHyAMzuPvENcWGcgLsw==ulti-level cultural exchanges， cooperating ineducation， culture， sports， youth issues， and scienceand technology. To promote people-to-peopleexchanges， China has implemented a pilotvisa-free policy for France， Germany， Switzerlandand some other European countries， which willbe in effect till 2025.

Since 2018， the number of Chinese citizenswith EU residence permits has remained aroundone million every year. The Chinese are amongthe biggest foreign resident populations in theEU. In education， China has agreements withmore than 20 EU member states on the mutualrecognition of degrees， academic qualificationsand diplomas. Europe has opened cultural andeducational institutions in China such as theAlliance Fran?aise， Goethe-Institut， and theInstituto Cervantes while there are over 200Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classroomsin Europe. In the cultural field， there is a varietyof exchange projects， and exchange centers havebeen set up by both sides to consolidate publicopinion， which has become a model for crossculturalexchange and mutual learning.

During his May visit to France， President Xiand French President Emmanuel Macron jointlyspoke to reporters after their talks at the ElyseePalace. Xi said 2024， which is being celebratedas the China-France Year of Culture and Tourismas a tribute to 60 years of their diplomaticties， should be utilized to promote cooperationin fields like education， sports， film and television，and youth. He also spoke about the “goodstories” in the history of educational exchangesbetween the two countries.

One is the Foochow Shipbuilding Institutionin southeast China. In the 19th century， Frenchnaval officers and engineers played a stellarrole in its establishment and built China’s basein maritime engineering， navigation and otheradvanced Western technologies. The Work-StudyMovement in France at the beginning of lastcentury is another one. Thousands of progressiveyoung Chinese went to France. They studiedFrench culture and Western science and workedin factories in Paris， Lyon and Montargis to payfor their studies.

Xi also said France will be the “country of honor”at the 2024 China Annual Conference & Expofor International Education to be held in Beijingfrom October 31 to November 2. And he pledgedthat the number of French students studying inChina will exceed 10，000 in the next three years，and European youth exchanges in China willdouble.

Along with the development of Sino-Europeanrelations， Sino-European talent exchange andcooperation has also blossomed. In 1997， the EUlaunched the EU-China Higher Education CooperationProgram to promote exchanges betweenChinese and European institutions of higherlearning and boost European studies and the internationalizationof higher education in China.In 1998， China signed theAgreement for Scientific andTechnological Cooperationwith the European Community，and in 2001， it joinedthe World Trade Organization.In the era of economicglobalization， the demandfor China-EU cooperationhas increased.

Subsequently， a cooperation framework wasestablished for China-EU talent exchange. In2003， the EU published Common Interests andChallenges of the EU-China relationship – Towardsa Mature Partnership and China issueda policy paper on the EU， which said bilateralpartnerships can be promoted through academiccooperation. The two documexE/a/38jnRibmhNNGo5+oQ==nts markeda new stage in China-EU cooperation in highereducation.

In the same year， China promulgated Regulationsof the People’s Republic of China on Chinese-Foreign Cooperation in Running Schools，encouraging domestic universities to establishjoint academic projects with foreign universities，which created a good policy environment forChina-EU higher education cooperation. In 2009，China and the EU signed the China-EU Scienceand Technology Partnership Plan， under whichthey jointly decide， select and fund researchprojects in priority areas.

In 2010， the Europe-China Clean EnergyCenter was launched， and multiple platformsfor cooperation between Chinese and Europeanresearchers were established. They include thePlatform for European Researchers’ Networks inChina and the EURAXESS-China office， whichlinks Chinese and European researchers. In 2011，Beijing Normal University became the first Chinesepartner institution to join the EU’s ErasmusMundus Joint Master’s training program – Researchand Innovation in Higher Education.

Since 2010， China-EU talent cooperation hasdeepened. In 2012， at the 15th China-EU Summit，China and the EU issued a joint statementon innovative cooperation dialogue. Based onthis， the first China-EU Innovation CooperationDialogue was held in 2013， and they reached aconsensus on strengthening scientific researchand innovation. In 2013， at the 16th China-EUSummit， the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda forCooperation was formulated.

During the 17th China-EU Summit in 2015，a co-funding mechanism for research and innovationwas established. It greatly increasedthe proportion of Chinese researchers in the EUFramework Program for Research and Innovationas project hosts and transformed China’sparticipation from scattered application to centralizedapplication in the National Science andTechnology Information System， making the scitechcooperation systematic and standardized.

Since 2020， although the talent cooperationwas affected by the COVID-19 pandemic， it hasdeveloped new forms and fields. At their thirdplenary session in July 2024， the 20th CentralCommittee of the Communist Party of Chinaemphasized the need to expand internationalsci-tech exchange and cooperation， encouragethe establishment of international sci-tech organizationsin China， and optimize the managementmechanism for international exchange andcooperation among universities， science researchinstitutions and societies. At the 2023 China-EuropeTalent Forum， the Adecco Group， a ZurichbasedHR company， and Peking University signedan agreement for in-depth cooperation and exchangein talent training， employment and otheraspects， and improve the global career developmentcapabilities of top-notch talents.

In May 2024， the China-Europe Talent Exchangeand Innovation Cooperation Center wasinaugurated in Hangzhou， Zhejiang Province ineast China. A platform for talent exchange andinnovation cooperation with Europe， it is followinga one-center， multi-base model to pooldomestic and overseas forces for open cooperationbetween China and Europe in science andtechnology， culture， innovation and entrepreneurship.