Joint Declaration between the People's Republic of China and the French Republic on Continuing to Promote and Peacefully Utilize Nuclear Energy Cooperation

China and France both agree that nuclear energy, as a clean, low-carbon, stable, and reliable base load energy source, plays a unique and important role in addressing global challenges such as climate change and energy security. Both sides welcome the government-to-government agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy signed on May 15, 1997, and the framework of the agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy signed on November 22, 1982, to carry out industrial and technological cooperation. China and France will continue to uphold the principles of transparency, respect, and mutual trust in this area of cooperation. Both sides agree that technological innovation is an important way to improve the safety and economy of nuclear energy, and they will fully utilize the existing cooperation projects and continue to carry out collaborative research and development in nuclear energy technology innovation. They will also explore the possibility of implementing new cooperative projects in the direction of small modular reactor development, application of artificial intelligence technology, and peaceful uses beyond electricity production.