As China and France continue to strengthen their diplomatic and cultural ties, the Shanghai Pompidou Center serves as a bridge to its French counterpart. Our reporter Wang Siwen visits both the center in Shanghai, and its headquarters in Paris to take us through this cultural link between the two nations.

Described as largest-ever cultural exchange between China and France, the Shanghai Pompidou has been bringing French modern art closer to the Chinese public since 2019. It's a rare opportunity for Chinese art enthusiasts to engage directly with all the big names from France's storied art history.

During the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism, the Pompidou Center serves as a cultural calling card for France. In 2019, the Center Pompidou signed a cooperation agreement with the West Bund Museum in Shanghai, and in 2024, another cooperation project was signed for another five years.

Paul Frèches, the managing director at Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum said: "They are in the place, maybe the only one in China, where the public can come at any time of the year and see a really strong selection of modern and contemporary artworks, with all the big names that the people expect to see, but also with a lot of discoveries and providing some insights and some connections with the local culture, local history and local creative scene. We have worked really hard to have the teams both from the Pompidou in Paris and from the West Bund Museum in Shanghai strive for more ambitious goals."

Throughout the 20th century, a significant number of Chinese artists have studied in France, particularly in Paris, which was a major center for art and culture.

"As early as in the 1920s, as many people do know, now, they were first generation of artists from China who came to Paris to study at the fine art school. Some of them became very famous artist like Xu Beihong, or Liu Haisu, or Chang Shuhong. These artists actually were exhibited in Paris in 1933. And then the story went on decade after decade, then you have a second chapter in this history with artists such as Zhao Wuji. They were also sort of cultural ambassadors in a way," Frèches said.

Following his words, I travelled to the Center Pompidou in Paris, which opened in 1977, meeting with Julie Narbey, the general director there.

"It's not only a museum, we have the second most important collections of modern and contemporary artwork in the world. We also have a public library for students or people who want to read some books and a workshop for kids, and a cinema, and performing arts. So you can come every week and you will discover something else," Narbey said.

Around 140,000 works are part of the Center Pompidou collection, the largest in Europe, which feature Chinese artworks from time to time. The exchange of exhibitions between the two Pompidou galleries ensures that the conversation is always mutual.

"It's an important cultural cooperation. Maybe the most important cultural cooperation between China and France. It is a real success. There are millions of visitors in Shanghai, and I think they are really happy to explore our exhibition," Narbey said.

As both nations look forward to the future, the Shanghai and Paris Pompidou Centers stand as testaments to the enduring and evolving cultural ties between China and France.