Sino-French green cooperation symbolized by visionary eco-city

BEIJING－In an eco-friendly demo city in China's central province of Hubei, a futuristic, eye-catching building has become a new urban landmark.

The Sino-French City Planning Hall, designed by French architect Denis Laming and preserved as a local heritage site marking bilateral joint efforts in eco-friendly urbanism, attests to the two countries' close cooperation in green development.

The Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City, initiated in 2014 by the governments of both countries, aims to facilitate exchange of Chinese and French experience and know-how in green urbanism.

Up to January, the project that covers 39 square kilometers in Caidian district, Wuhan city, had secured as much as 38 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) in fixed asset investment, according to official figure of the eco-city's management committee.

Small neighborhoods and a dense road network, as seen in the city plan jointly developed by French and Chinese experts, reflect both French urban elements and low carbon emission features, says Ma Wangtao, the committee's director of land use planning and construction.

Architecture in the eco-city is required to meet green building standards, according to the committee and the city's 2018-27 developmental plan suggests that, by 2025, the city will have a residential capacity of 120,000 people and provide 60,000 job opportunities.

The eco-city project will not only help promote Sino-French cooperation in energy-saving technologies, but also strengthen mutual political trust and deepen exchanges in culture and tourism, Zeng Yingying, associate professor at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, told Xinhua News Agency in a recent interview.

As for the green energy sector, China's tech-savvy approach took some French people, including Aude Telot, a college student in Paris, by surprise.

While attending the opening day of CGN Europe Energy, a branch of the China General Nuclear Power Group, or CGN, in Paris on Dec 31, and referring to the field of wind-generated energy, Telot expressed his admiration, noting, "what surprised me was that China has great technological knowledge".

During the event, Jean-Baptiste Breban, team leader of CGN Europe's control center, greeted the students of the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, and presented the use of artificial intelligence and digitization in the company's safety management of wind farms.

CGN Europe Energy has a wind farm in Charmont-sous-Barbuise, which has been propelling electricity for 7,500 local households since 2010. The facility boasts six turbines with a total installed capacity of 12 megawatts.

Meanwhile, construction started on China's first offshore wind power project with foreign investment last October－a joint venture between the China Energy Investment Corporation (China Energy) and French energy giant EDF Group－in the sea off Dongtai city in East China's Jiangsu province.

As climate change becomes a major challenge facing the world, tackling it becomes a priority for global sustainable development and one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Under the framework of the China-France comprehensive strategic partnership, the two countries have been working together to tackle climate change and have achieved important results through their cooperation.

Former French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said in an earlier interview that China and France have undertaken fruitful cooperation under the Paris Agreement and that China is an indispensable partner in the field of addressing climate change.

In 2018, the China-France Year of the Environment, a joint oceanographic satellite was sent into space, allowing scientists of the two countries to cooperate in the study of wind-wave dynamics on the surface of the oceans.

Xinhua