Sister province since: February 1998

Overview

Lorraine, the historical region of northeast France, is where the Duché de Lorraine was once located. It shares borders with three European countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany. It was officially incorporated into the French territory in 1736 and was occupied by Germany again from 1940 to 1945. It was not until after the Second World War that France regained the area.

On January 1, 2016, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne, and Lorraine merged into the Grand Est. The largest city in the Grand Est Region is Strasbourg, which is also the regional capital and the seat of many international institutions such as the Council of Europe, European Parliament, and Court of Human Rights.

Relations with Hubei

The cooperation between Hubei Province and the Grand Est Region of France began with its sister relationship with the Lorraine Region. In 1998, Hubei Province twinned with the Lorraine region. In 2016, the Lorraine region merged with the Alsace region and Champagne-Ardenne region to form the Grand Est Region. Hubei extended the sister relations to the new region to strengthen cooperation with northern France. Currently, cooperation between the two sides mainly focuses on education and medicine.

In 2001, Wuhan University and Lorraine University started a seven-year Sino-French medical class at Wuhan University, enrolling 25 to 30 students every year. So far, the program has cultivated 405 students, more than 75% of whom studied in France. In 2010, the two sides set up a resident training program in France as a complement to the medical program in a bid to promote the sustainable development of Sino-French medical education. The program has since trained a lot of professional medical talents who are also proficient in French. At present, most of the graduates have completed the one-year resident training in France.

In addition, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, together with Lorraine University from France and the Robotics Research Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology, are striving to build the first 3A hospital equipped with domestic surgical robots in China, which is expected to be China’s first clinical application and teaching demonstration base using surgical robots.

In July 2011, the School of Optics and Electronic Information of Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Strasbourg University signed the first Sino-French 3 +3 successive bachelor-master program agreement. Up to now, 47 students have been selected to pursue a master’s degree in photoelectronic related majors in France through this program.

Wuhan University of Technology oversees the organization and operation of the Confucius Institute at Lorraine University. Located in Metz, Grand Est Region, the Confucius Institute was inaugurated in November 2011 and started enrollment in 2012. Since its founding, Wuhan University of Technology has sent delegations of teachers and students to Lorraine University every year for cultural and academic exchanges, and art performances. In 2019, the Confucius Institute at Lorraine University was awarded the title Model Confucius Institute.