Bertrand Lortholary, French Ambassador to China, Julien Le Lan, French Consul General in Wuhan, and Vincent Bouhier, President of the Evry Paris-Saclay University, visited Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) on June 15. Liu Bo, Chair of the University Committee, and Zhang Yonghui, Vice President, received the guests.

The meeting, chaired by Zhang Yonghui, began with Liu Bo giving a brief overview of HUST's history and academic strengths. Liu Bo emphasized the importance of HUST's collaboration with French institutions, highlighting flagship programs in talent cultivation, research cooperation, and cultural exchange.

Liu Bo expressed hope to deepen and expand pragmatic cooperation with France, building more high-level platforms for scientific and educational collaboration in areas of mutual interest. She also extended a warm welcome to more young French scholars and students to join HUST for exchange and learning, contributing to the advancement of Sino-French relations and global societal progress.

Bertrand Lortholary commended HUST's strengths in talent development and research innovation. He highlighted the longstanding friendship and mutual trust between China and France, noting that cooperation in higher education is a vital pillar of bilateral relations. In recent years, frequent exchanges between the presidents of both countries have underscored the importance of higher education partnerships and provided strong support for their continued development. The French embassy and consulates in China will continue to support comprehensive bilateral cooperation, promote the cultivation of high-level talent, and advance progress in research and technology. Together, they seek to write new chapters in the story of Sino-French friendship and cooperation.

During the exchange session, Vincent Bouhier and Liu Jianfeng, Dean of the School of Life Science and Technology at HUST, reviewed the achievements of the Joint Bioscience Program between the two universities. Both parties expressed their commitment to further advancing cooperation by building on existing joint talent cultivation at the undergraduate and master's levels and by fostering multi-level research collaboration among faculty. They aim to elevate the partnership's scope and influence, establishing it as a flagship model for high-level collaboration in higher education between China and France.