The Observatoire de Paris became a partner in the “800 young people” exchange program between China and France, jointly set up by the French and Chinese prime ministers. After 400 young people from France visited China in 2006, it was their Chinese counterparts’turn to come to France: 400 leaders, professors, laboratory and department heads, and company general managers aged 30 to 45. From 8 to 15 December, 100 Chinese scientists could choose from a number of programs.

Last October, the president of the Observatoire de Paris travelled to Nanjing, China, where he visited the Purple Mountain Observatory, while he was attending an international conference in Shanghai.

The Observatoire de Paris was a co-organizer of the third Franco-Chinese astronomical conference on “Origins”.

The Observatoire de Paris is one of the members of the new ARENA network,whose principal coordinator is Nicolas Epstein, from the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis.

Sweden and France have been cooperating in the space field for twenty years, and they jointly carried out a number of projects at the Esrange base (near Kiruna) in the north of Sweden.

In the context of the European Union “Marie Curie” program, an Excellence Grant awarded to Dr. Piercarlo Bonifacio is behind the launching, on 8^th September 2005 at the Observatoire de Paris, of the CIFIST (Cosmological Impact of the First Stars) program.

On 28 September 2005, a delegation from China’s National Institute of Metrology (NIM) was received at the Observatoire de Paris by the President Daniel Egret and the Head of SYRTE, Philip Tuckey.

These International Chairs are prestigious fellowships awarded by the State and the Ile-de-France Region and managed by the foundation of the École Normale Supérieure.