On April 24, Party Secretary Zhu Min of Donghua University (DHU) met with French Ambassador to China Jean-Maurice Ripert, in the company of Cultural Counselor Robert Lacombe of the French Embassy in China and Consul-General Axel Cruau of France in Shanghai, at the Yan’an Road campus. The two sides had cordial and friendly talks on further deepening cooperation in education between China and France. Vice President Liu Chunhong of DHU also attended the meeting.
Zhu Min firstextended a warmwelcometo the visitof Jean-Maurice Ripert as well as gratitudeto French Embassy and Consulate in China for their support for and participation in the Greater Donghua Fashion Week. He then introduced the progressandachievementthat DHU has made in responseto the country’s “Double First-Class” Initiative, carryingoutfashionandcreative education and deepening international exchanges and cooperation. Accordingto him, DHU has established extensive exchanges and cooperativerelationships with internationally renowned universities and scientific research institutes including French universities, resulting inincreased internationalization in faculty team, scientific research, and talent training. The Greater Donghua Fashion Week overlapped with the seriesevents of “China-France Fashion Convention” in Shanghai, which created a platform for further deepening China-France exchanges and cooperation in the fieldof education. It is hoped that the two parties will continue to consolidate and expand friendly exchanges and strengthen in-depth cooperation in education, research, and culture.
During the talks, Ambassador Ripert stated that DHU, as a famous university in the field of fashion education, has attracted more than 500 French students to study in the past five years. There is great potential for cooperation in fashion education between DHU and French universities. The Greater Donghua Fashion Week overlapped with the start of the program of China-France Cultural Spring, during which the China-France Student Fashion and Creative Competition serves as a favorable platform for students from both sides to exchange fashion ideas and improve their fashion skills. He expressed the hope that DHU will cooperate with French universities to create more exchange opportunities for teachers and students via the form of “forums,” “competitions” and “exchange students,” thereby jointly cultivating outstanding creative talents. It’s also hoped to promote exchanges and cooperation between the two countries based on education as a medium.
The China-France Student Fashion and Creative Competition, jointly sponsored by the French Consulate General in Shanghai, the Shanghai Promotion Center for City of Fashion and Donghua University, is an important part of the China-France Fashion Convention. Students from DHU and Kedge Business School designed fashion products based on existing innovative technologies and commercial models for marketing. What matter most for the product are the novelty in and closeness of fashion and technology.
