Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin holds a farewell ceremony for the French Youth Delegation Leaving for China
On May 23, 2018, former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, chairman of the Prospective and Innovation Foundation and Honorary Chairman of “Friends of Wu Jianmin” association, held a farewell ceremony for the 10 winners of the “Wu Jianmin China-France Youth Exchange Program”.
Raffarin congratulated the winners and spoke highly of their theses and interviews. He talked about the “Wu Jianmin Scholarship” and the contribution Ambassador Wu had made to Sino-French relations, and expressed the hope that the young generation in France could carry on the tradition and maintain the friendly relations between the two countries.
Raffarin said that the best way to learn about a country is to study its culture. He is a great example. Since his first visit to China in 1976, China has become one of the most frequent destinations for him. China today is full of energy and promise, and represents the future of the world, and the exchange between young people of the two countries represent the future of the relations between the two countries.
The Wu Jianmin China-France Youth Exchange Program was launched on January 23, 2017, before the 53rd anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Its goal is to commemorate Ambassador Wu’s outstanding contribution to the friendship between the two countries, spread his patriotic passion and devotion to peaceful diplomacy, and to promote the development of public diplomacy. The project was jointly launched by Beijing Wu Jianmin Foundation, Friends of Wu Jianmin association in France, and the Prospective and Innovation Foundation. Beijing Wu Jianmin Foundation is in charge of receiving the delegation in China.
Through visits, exchanges and roundtables, the project aims to help the French youths to better understand China's economy, society, politics and culture, and they fully understand the real Chinese youths who are growing up in a time of China’s peaceful rise, so as to sow the seeds of peaceful development and friendship between the two countries.
The theme of this French youth visiting program is "innovation and entrepreneurship." The 10 winners selected from the young French applicants will go to Beijing, Chengdu and Shenzhen from June 2 to June 16, 2018, to visit innovative industrial parks and institutions in these cities, learn about AI, VR, drones and robots, etc, exchange ideas and talk with young local entrepreneurs.