France will strengthen its support of science in China, according to this week's Nature. The two countries signed agreements promoting research into environmental protection, space exploration, and development and peaceful use of atomic energy, during a visit to China by French president Jacques Chirac.

On 11 October, Chirac attended the opening of the new Pasteur Institute in Shanghai — a collaboration between the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The new research institute will focus on diseases, such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, that have afflicted China, and will be central to the growing partnership between the French and Chinese scientific communities.

Meanwhile, the Xinhua news agency reports that Germany has offered China US$54.5 million of financial assistance with 19 programmes — including ones related to energy and the environment.

Link to full Nature news story

Link to full Xinhua news story

Reference: Nature 431, 887 (2004)