A Chinese art exhibition will open next week in the French capital Paris to promote the Olympic spirit and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Titled "From Beijing to Paris: Olympic Tour of Chinese and French Artists," the grand event, co-hosted by China Media Group, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, the Ligue de Football Professionnel, and several French art organizations, is set to open at the Les Invalides exhibition venue on May 6.
More than 200 Chinese pieces of art will be on display, including Chinese ink-and-wash paintings, calligraphy, oil paintings, sculptures, and pieces of intangible cultural heritage.
The exhibition aims to encourage cultural contacts between China and France, foster people-to-people exchanges, promote the Olympic spirit, and let French people experience the allure of Chinese art through a range of current pieces.
The public can view the exhibition from May 7 to 18.
Large China-France art exhibition to run in Paris
Dominic Barton, chairman of leading global mining group Rio Tinto, warned against severing economic ties with China, saying it could lead to higher prices and slower development of new products and technologies, during an interview.
This comes as the White House announced on Tuesday new tariffs on imports of electric vehicles, solar cells and other clean-energy products from China, in a protectionist move widely believed to imperil the American ambition to enhance competitiveness and slash carbon emissions.
Many businesspersons are concerned that this newly announced tariff hike could damage global supply chains and lead to further decoupling of the U.S. from China.
During an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Barton voiced his opposition to decoupling, calling it an impractical approach.
"I think there's some legitimate reasons for resilience in supply chains, and we learned that from COVID in a way, too. Everyone, every country wants to make sure they have some resiliency. But we also need to remember that the foundations of a lot of the growth we've had in the global economy and bringing hundreds of millions of people out of poverty, is because we've had global supply chains. So this idea that we're going to decouple is just ridiculous in my view. It's ridiculous and it'll have very severe consequences. We have to be very careful of that and how we think about that balance," he said.
Barton emphasized the importance of global collaboration for efficient and affordable production, especially in the shift toward sustainable energy and technologies.
"I think the challenge is we don't have a deep enough understanding, the common person like myself, of how supply chains work. We are incredibly linked in what we do. One of the consequences of a less global supply chain is higher inflation. It's just a fact. And higher inflation is not good for anyone," he said.
"Second thing is innovation. If we're going to make this energy transition, we need the materials. We also need to produce the equipment, the technology to be able to do the transition. The solar panels, the electric vehicles, the batteries, and it's in everyone's interest that we have the most efficient, low-cost way of doing it. And so these are factors that we need to make sure we keep in mind in a more politicized environment, because there are real consequences to changing that," Barton added.
Decoupling with China carries risk of major disruptions: Rio Tinto chairman
