French sculptor shares inspiration for his panda sculpture

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Michel Bassompierre, a renowned French contemporary animal sculptor who made the monumental sculpture of Yuan Meng, the first giant panda born in France in 2017, has shared his inspiration for the creation, which symbolizes the importance of biodiversity conservation and the French-Chinese friendship.

The year 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. The monumental sculpture "Yuan Meng, the realization of a dream" was officially inaugurated on March 22, 2024 in the ZooParc de Beauval, in the presence of Rodolphe Delord, president and CEO of the ZooParc de Beauval, and representatives of the Chinese Embassy in France. Around 300 people attended the event.

Yuan Meng left France for China in July 2023. He has been a veritable "idol" since birth. According to the zoo, about 26 million netizens followed the live stream to watch his birth on social media. Meanwhile, Yuan Meng has also attracted broad attention from the French public and media.

"The Beauval zoo approached me, because they knew I was doing bears, gorillas and large animals. And now I mainly do monumental sculptures, and their idea was to have a panda display at the entrance to the zoo, because it's a great brand image for them, in terms of trade with China. So, it was something extraordinary for them, if I could make them a big sculpture," said Bassompierre.

To bring his vision to life, Bassompierre visited the zoo and sketched the panda, using clay to create small elements that would later form part of the final sculpture. He then completed the definitive work in his workshop, meticulously crafting the intricate details.

"So, the idea for them was to have two animals (pandas), the mother and the cub, for example. And in terms of the sculpture, I thought the best thing would be to place the cub in the mother's arms, since it's one of the most maternal of animals, the mother panda is very maternal with her cubs. So, it made a beautiful sculpture, especially in terms of composition," said Bassompierre.

When asked about the significance of the sculpture's name, "the realization of a dream," Bassompierre explained that it reflects his belief in materializing the images he envisions in his mind. He said that sculpture, especially animal sculpture, is about materially realizing something one have in the mind.

Reflecting on the universal appeal of beauty, Bassompierre expressed his conviction that artistic creations transcend cultural boundaries. He believes what's beautiful is universal.

Acknowledging the cultural richness of China, Bassompierre praised the country's great culture, history and technical expertise. He also highlighted France's contributions to art, including painting, sculpture and music.

"I don't know much about Chinese art, but I do know that some extraordinary things have been done. For me, China is a great culture, a great nation, a great history, very rich in terms of techniques. France is known the world over for its gastronomy and luxury goods. But it has also created and provided many artists with painting, sculpture and a wealth of musical talents," said Bassompierre.

Bassompierre also stressed the importance of preserving and nurturing the intellectual wealth represented by art. He said that cultural and technical exchanges between nations contribute to enriching humanity.

"So, for me, anything that involves cultural and technical exchanges between all countries and nations is something that could enrich humanity. I see all this, as human beings, we're no longer Chinese, we're no longer French, we're human beings on Earth, a very small Earth," said Bassompierre.

French sculptor shares inspiration for his panda sculpture

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠China's service outsourcing industry saw robust expansion in the first four months of this year, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

Chinese firms inked services outsourcing contracts worth a total of some 781.43 billion yuan (about 110 billion U.S. dollars) in the four-month period, up 14.4 percent year on year, according to the ministry.

The executed contract value stood at 520.51 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent.

Of the total, the value of offshore service outsourcing contracts rose 8.6 percent year on year to 419.04 billion yuan.

Specifically, the value of offshore information technology outsourcing (ITO) services provided by Chinese companies jumped by 10.9 percent from a year earlier.

China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the United States and the European Union ranked the top three markets in terms of the fulfilled contract value of offshore outsourcing service, accounting for 54 percent of the total.

Chinese firms undertook nearly 80 billion yuan(about 14.93 billion U.S. dollars) worth of offshore service outsourcing contracts that were fulfilled with countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, up 24 percent from a year ago, while the offshore outsourcing services for Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) member countries totaled 73.26 billion yuan, up 16.6 percent year on year.

Outsourcing refers to hiring an outside party to carry out services or produce goods typically undertaken by in-house employees. In China, service outsourcing is typically divided into three sectors: information technology outsourcing, business process outsourcing and knowledge process outsourcing.

In the January-April period, the service outsourcing industry welcomed about 301,000 new hires, with 84.7 percent of these individuals holding a bachelor's degree or above. The sector had over 16.17 million employees at the end of April, among whom some 10.56 million were graduates with a bachelor's degree or higher.

China's service outsourcing industry reports robust expansion