Museums vital platform for France-China cultural exchange: scholars

As the world marks the 2026 International Museum Day, French scholars said that museums are increasingly serving as a vital bridge for exchanges between Chinese and French civilizations, playing a role in connecting cultures across the globe.

In recent years, China and France have deepened exchanges in museum development, heritage conservation, scientific and technological research, and talent cultivation. Museums have become a key platform for cultural exchange and mutual learning between the two countries.

France boats a long and mature museum tradition. From the Louvre to regional museums, these institutions function not only as spaces for collecting and displaying cultural relics, but also as cultural systems open to the public. Meanwhile, China's rapidly growing museum sector has paved the way for increasingly close collaboration between the two countries in museums and cultural heritage protection.

French scholars have been impressed by China's high standard cultural heritage conservation and the grand scale of Chinese museums.

"I was deeply impressed by the level of scientific monitoring of cultural relics during my time in China. Both the technological methods employed and the professional competence of the personnel involved are of a very high standard. They place great importance on cultural heritage protection, monitoring as precisely as possible the temperature, humidity, and potential damage to the relics," said Charles Personnaz, former director of the French National Institute for Heritage.

"Like many visitors from Western countries, I am impressed by the sheer scale of China's newly built museums. Compared with our museums in Europe, especially in France, these Chinese museums are remarkably grand in scale," said Dominique Poulot, a French museum history expert.

The International Museum Day, observed every year in May, is globally recognized by the International Council of Museums. This year's International Museum Day is focused on uniting a divided world through museums.

Museums vital platform for France-China cultural exchange: scholars

A land port in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region bordering Vietnam said on Friday that it had handled over four million cross-border trips this year.

Dongxing Port is currently the main trade channel between China and Vietnam. Tourists can buy Vietnamese specialties here and visit the No.5 Boundary Tablet erected in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Hu Zhiming Pavilion and China-Vietnam Friendship Bridge.

Many tourists come for a border tour as more convenient policies have been adopted to encourage cross-border tourism, including making group trips to Mong Cai in Vietnam and taking a self-driving tour by only using a Chinese ID card.

"To handle the surging passenger flow, we increase inspection lanes in accordance with the variation, deploy additional police officers and streamline clearance procedures to fully ensure smooth travel for passengers," said Lyu Wei, a police officer at the Dongxing border inspection station.

Increasing travelers are also coming to experience the border area. On a recent travel, more than 400 teachers and students from a middle school in Guangxi's capital city Nanning took a river cruise.

The teachers and students said they come to see the China-Vietnam border boundary stone and the trip delivered them a better understanding of the boundary stone's significance.

China-Vietnam land port reports 4 mln cross-border trips