On June 23rd, a delegation led by Ms. Frédérique VIDAL, Minister for Higher Education, Research and Innovation of France visited Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS (IPS). The 16 delegation members included Mr. Antoine PETIT - President of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), Mr. Yves LEVY - President of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Mr. Stewart COLE - Director General of the Institut Pasteur (IP) and several French university presidents as well as the French Embassy Counselor - Mr. Pierre LEMONDE. Prof. ZHANG Xu - Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Branch, Prof. TANG Hong – Director General of IPS, Prof. Fernando ARENZANA - Scientific Co-Director of IPS, the researcher representatives, and the heads of the departments as well as the student representatives attended the meeting. The meeting was hosted by Prof. TANG Hong.
On behalf of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. ZHANG Xu firstly expressed warm welcome to Ms. VIDAL and the delegation. He reviewed the fruitful achievements of the Sino-French cooperation in science and technology. He pointed out that IPS, as a well-known representative for Sino-French cooperation in science and technology, had made remarkable achievements in the field of biomedicine, especially in the field of vaccines and infection diseases prevention. He also briefed the French delegation on the planning and progress in life and health of the Shanghai Science and Innovation Center, which included the newly established Brain and Mental Center and the Collaborative Innovation Platform Project for Infectious Disease Diagnosis and Treatment initiated by IPS.
Prof. Fernando ARENZANA made a detailed introduction on the organizational structure, the discipline layout, the talent team, the education & training, and the scientific research transformation as well as the progress of Sino-French cooperation. The introduction especially focused on the major international cooperation projects initiated by the institute, the international talents recruitment including "Shanghai High Mountain Talents Project" and the joint lab with Wuhan P4 initiatives.
Ms. VIDAL expressed her gratitude to CAS Shanghai Branch and IPS for the warm reception and fully affirmed the role of IPS in the Sino-French scientific and technological cooperation. She pointed out that IPS had conducted in-depth cooperation with French scientific research institutions and related organizations in other countries in recent years and had made remarkable achievements in the protection of human health and the transformation of scientific research. She appreciated the hard work of IPS and the support of Chinese Academy of Sciences in all aspects. She firmly believed that both collaborative parties would make greater contributions to human health in the future.
Mr. Stewart COLE - Director General of IP highly praised of the outstanding achievements made by IPS as the Asia-Pacific Region Coordination Organization of the Instiut Pasteur International Network (IPIN) and expressed that the entire IPIN would further participate in and integrate into the "One Belt and One Road" initiative.
After the meeting, Ms. VIDAL and the delegation members took friendly photos with the meeting representatives.
