Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Institut Pasteur signed on Jul. 1^st, 2016, two cooperation agreements in Paris to jointly deepen mutual effort on emerging infectious diseases. 

The agreements, based on the Cooperation Agreement that bring forth the creation of Institut Pasteur of Shanghai of CAS, and the construction of a high-level biosafety laboratory in Wuhan, will target on more collaboration on prevention and control of ravaging infectious diseases around the world. 

TAN Tieniu,Vice President of CAS,and Christian Bréchot, President of the Institut Pasteur, signed the agreements on behalf of CAS and Institut Pasteur respectively. (Image by Institut Pasteur)

The event took place during a China-France Seminar on Emerging Infectious Diseases opened in Paris, in which China is seeking more opportunities to make cooperation in prevention and control of infectious disease, especially in African countries along the “Belt and Road”. 

The two Agreements include the revised edition of the 2004 Cooperation Agreement for the Creation of the Institut Pasteur of Shanghaiand the Strategic Plan of Shanghai Pasteur Institute of CAS. TAN Tieniu, Vice President of CAS, and Christian Bréchot, President of the Institut Pasteur, signed the agreements on behalf of CAS and Institut Pasteur respectively. 

China and France developed their cooperation on emerging infectious diseases research from 2003 when SARS plagued the country and killed hundreds of people. The two countries agreed to seek collaboration in fighting emerging infectious diseases and in biosafety. The cooperation evolved to be an agreement between the two countries in 2004 to join hands in research on emerging infectious diseases, the most important cooperated projects in medical science. 

The CAS is constructing a joint research laboratory by two CAS institutes, the Institut Pasteur in Shanghai and the Wuhan Institute of Virology. A joint announcement was also made by Institut Pasteur and the Fondation Mérieux to make the creation a four-year group to support the CAS joint lab. More cooperation opportunities on the lab are expected between China and France in the coming years. 

Scientists from China and France presented the seminar and shared their ideas and progress on infectious diseases and emerging infectious diseases, parasites and bacteria, high-level biosafety laboratory, host immune response and prevention. Attendees include Françoise Barre-Sinoussi, the Nobel Laureates who discovered the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Dr. George Fu GAO, CAS member and prominent expert on Ebola prevention and control.

The Institut Pasteur, founded in 1887, is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. For over a century, the Institut Pasteur has been at the forefront of the battle against infectious disease.