China

French presence

There are more than 10,000 registered French nationals living in Hong Kong (versus more than 14,000 in 2019).

Cultural, scientific and technical cooperation

Hong Kong, now ranked third in the global art market, is an internationally recognized cultural hub, creating new opportunities for promoting our economic interests and influence. France’s positive image benefits from the development of our cooperation (major exhibitions representing significant financing opportunities for our major museums, a project for a Cannes Festival in Hong Kong, academic exchanges, as Hong Kong universities rank in the world’s top 100). It is a positive asset of our public diplomacy, which aims to present France (and Europe) as a power of balances committed to peace in the region and the rest of the world, which is essential given Russia’s war of aggression on Ukraine and tensions in the strait and between China and the United States, as well as to dialogue among cultures. Sponsorship plays an essential role in our cultural action, which has led the Fondation de France to open a regional office in Hong Kong recently.

French is taught at eight major public universities and several private universities and is being learned by around 2,000 students. It is also being taught in several international schools and certain local schools where there are at least 2,000 students enrolled. The Alliance Française branch in Hong Kong was created in 1953. It has 5,300 students and 10,500 registrations (2023). The Lycée Français International Victor Segalen is the second largest French lycée in Asia, behind Singapore (2,700 students across a French section in partnership with the Agency for French Education Abroad and an international section based on the British system).

Scientific academic cooperation in the research field between France and Hong Kong is being conducted in four main areas: i) the development of high-level scientific partnerships, including through support for researchers mobility (PHC Procore programme); ii) the promotion of French higher education and student mobility, by fostering new partnerships with local public universities; iii) support for French scientific institutions present in Hong Kong, including the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC) and the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO); iv) the development of the France-HKUST Sustainability Innovation Hub, a cooperation and scientific and academic communication platform to promote partnerships, including those focused on R&D, with French high-tech companies.

The French Centre for Research on Contemporary China is the only European research centre in the country dedicated to contemporary China. It was created in 1991 and is based in Hong Kong. The CEFC is involved in doctoral students’ education, regularly organizes research seminars and international conferences, and publishes the quarterly academic journal “Perspectives Chinoises”, which is very well known in the academic realm.

The annual “French May” festival, created in 1993, continues to be an important event that raises awareness about French culture in Hong Kong. The festival offers a varied programme every year, including exhibitions, shows, cinema and gastronomy, aimed at highlighting all aspects of French culture.

In the audiovisual field, cooperation is focused on the film industry, with several annual film festivals featuring classic and contemporary French films. The Special Administrative Region is also of interest for the creative and cultural industries when it comes to digital arts and design (France was the partner country of Hong Kong’s Business of Design Week in 2024).