A COVID-19 epidemic has been raging throughout the world since early 2020. Countries have taken various kinds of prevention and control measures in response to the challenges to public health, the economy, society, and international relations brought about by this rare pandemic. In order to obtain a clear view of different countries’ principles and mechanisms in combating the epidemic as well as the impact of such measures on the present state of the world, the Institute of Area Studies, Peking University (PKUIAS), in coordination with and PKU's Office of International Relations, held an online seminar as part of its Broadyard Workshop (博雅工作坊) series, titled “The Global Epidemic: Observations and Analysis by Diplomats.”

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Macron administration has taken a series of countermeasures, including closing schools, stopping all non-essential commercial activities, strictly limiting overseas exchanges, and imposing stay-at-home orders. The government promised to postpone or reduce taxes and social security payments, allocated 45 billion euros ($50.2 billion) in immediate aid for businesses and employees, and declared a national “public health emergency.” Under these united efforts, the epidemic in France has shown signs of relief. But still, some French are concerned about the future. On the one hand, whether the French measures can effectively curb the virus remains unknown. On the other hand, the French economy is undergoing its worst quarterly performance since 1945, and tiding over the crisis as soon as possible has become the primary problem facing the French government.

Compared with other countries, what are the gains and losses of French anti-pandemic measures? What role do its measures play in the whole European anti-pandemic battlefield? How has the pandemic impacted the stability and security of Sino-French trade cooperation? What attitude and measures should China take to face this impact? What changes will the pandemic bring to the current state of development in Europe, or the world? This workshop features four scholars and experts–former Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun; Chair of the Department of French at PKU's School of Foreign Languages Dong Qiang; Prof. Yang Zhuang from PKU’s National School of Development; and Director of the Department of Global Health in PKU's School of Public Health Zheng Zhijie–who will discuss the aforementioned issues from multiple perspectives.