On March 16, 2017, French scholar Marc Julienne visited the SIAS and gave a lecture on the latest research by French think tanks on the “One Belt One Road” (B&R) initiative. Julienne is resident associate fellow at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and a PhD candidate at the Paris-based National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilizations (INALCO). The event was co-hosted by the “Belt & Road” Initiative Research Center at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Julienne gave an overview of the research focuses of FRS, French Institute for International Relations (IFRI) and other French think tanks. Their interests range from the implementation of the initiative and European countries’ response to it, to China’s relations with countries along the routes.