The inaugural annual meeting of the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center was successfully held in Beijing on December 4. The conference was jointly organized by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, and the Embassy of France in China. The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21 served as the Chinese secretariat. The Institute for Carbon Neutrality at Tsinghua University provided critical support for the event. More than 200 representatives and experts from research institutions, universities, enterprises, and relevant government departments in both countries attended the meeting.
The conference venue
Zhuang Jia, Deputy Director-General of the Department of International Cooperation at MOST, and Manuel Bouard, Deputy Director-General from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, delivered opening remarks. Both officials highly praised the special significance of holding this annual meeting against the backdrop of recent high-level bilateral summits and expressed their shared commitment to advancing the Center’s development and achieving more tangible outcomes.
During the meeting, representatives from both sides presented updates on the Center’s progress. Hélène Bergès, representing the French side, reviewed scientific research activities and collaborative achievements undertaken under the Center’s framework. Chen Qizhen, Deputy Director of the Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21, spoke on behalf of the Chinese secretariat. He emphasized that the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center carries the mission of building scientific consensus and promoting green development. Since its establishment, the Center has steadily built a research collaboration network, continuously improved long-term communication mechanisms, and made positive progress in joint research, platform development, and talent exchange. He affirmed that the Administrative Center will continue to leverage its professional capabilities to transform the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center into a global hub for carbon neutrality science and technology cooperation, explore new models of international scientific collaboration, and contribute more “China-France wisdom” to global climate governance.
In the keynote session, Professor He Kebin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Dean of Tsinghua University’s Institute for Carbon Neutrality, and Dr. Jean-François Soussana, Director of the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), delivered thematic reports on “Scientific Challenges under Carbon Neutrality and the Role of the China-France Carbon Neutrality Center.” Both experts agreed that overcoming key technological bottlenecks is essential to providing robust scientific support for achieving carbon neutrality goals in both nations and globally. The meeting also featured sharing sessions on typical cooperation cases in carbon neutrality and experiences in establishing joint laboratories.
He Kebin delivering the keynote report
Professor Guan Dabo, Associate Dean of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality, was invited to attend the conference and actively engaged in discussions with French counterparts.
He Kebin and Guan Dabo exchanging views with French representatives.
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