On November 21st, Chen Hao, Deputy Agricultural Counselor of the French Embassy in China, Ding Bo, Director of the French Higher Education Department of the French Consulate General in Shenyang, and Frank Mitchaud, a professor of the National Institute of Timber Industry in Nantes, France, visited NEFU and negotiated Sino-French international student exchanges and cooperation in the field of agriculture and forestry. In the afternoon, Vice President Li Shunlong met with Chen Hao and the delegation in conference room 708 of the comprehensive office building.
Li welcomed the French education cooperation officials on behalf of NEFU and introduced the basic situation of our university and the history of cooperation with French institutions. He said that NEFU attaches great importance to promoting foreign education exchanges and cooperation, and hopes that with the visit of this delegation as an opportunity to create a new situation of mutual cooperation in student study, teacher exchange, study and training, NEFU looks forward to working with French universities and make substantial progress in the field of international education exchanges and cooperation.
Chen Hao, Deputy Agriculture Counselor of the French Embassy in China, said that exchanges and integration in the field of education are a strong foundation and a strong guarantee for promoting pragmatic cooperation in various fields. The French Embassy in China is committed to deepening cooperation in various fields between China and France, especially in cooperation between agriculture and forestry. It is hoped that through this visit, NEFU and French universities will establish a platform for exchanges between Chinese and French students and universities, and jointly promote the cooperation between the two sides at a higher level.
The French Counselor General in Shenyang, Director of the French Higher Education Department, Ding Bo, said that he is willing to build a bridge between NEFU and French universities, and find partners in agriculture, forestry and other fields to provide more comprehensive and in-depth exchanges and cooperation.
Both sides discussed potential cooperation areas such as wildlife resources, life sciences, forest processing, and sustainable forest management.
At present, there are 2 French institutions that NEFU cooperates with, including the National Institute of Timber Industry in Nantes and the Upper French Institute of Technology (formerly Valen Cannes and Enochol Brezi University). Since the cooperation, NEFU has sent more than 20 students to study and exchange in France. The Nantes Institute of Advanced Timber Industry (ESB) is one of the earliest foreign institutions with which we have cooperated. It was founded in 1934 and is a member of the French Association of Elite Schools, which specializes in applied research of wood science and technology to train relevant professionals for the timber industry. In 1999, NEFU signed an inter-university exchange and cooperation agreement with the National Institute of Timber Industry in Nantes, France. In 2017, the two universities renewed the cooperation agreement and launched the“2+3”student joint training project. The visit of the French representative this time will further promote and expand the cooperation areas and scope of the two parties.
