Kunming Medical University looks to expand cooperation with France

Kunming Medical University, which was founded in 1933 by a group of medical scholars who studied in France, has always been a trailblazer in modern medical education in Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The university has continuously engaged in deep cooperation with France in the fields of medical education and healthcare. Especially after reform and opening-up, its traditional friendships with partner institutions in France have been enhanced, becoming a vivid example of cross-cultural cooperation and mutual benefit between the two countries.

The university's network of partners continues to expand. It has established cooperative relationships with several top French institutions including the University of Lorraine.

It became a member of a French-language university alliance in 2003. In 2023, Xia Xueshan, the university's president, was elected as vice-chairman to a joint committee of this alliance, increasing Kunming's influence within the international francophone academic community.

The university in Kunming has trained many French language-related medical professionals. It has sent nearly 100 teachers, physicians and administrators to France for further studies, covering 60 percent of the clinical departments of its affiliated hospitals.

It has formed a high-level team of French language-related professionals encompassing teaching, research, clinical practice and management, making contributions to medical development and the improvement of healthcare standards in Yunnan.

In October 2025, during the Sino-French medical education annual conference, a Sino-French cooperative medical school, jointly established with the University of Lorraine Faculty of Medicine Nancy, was officially established. This new school will systematically introduce the advanced models and curriculum systems of French medical education and conduct joint training of high-level medical professionals.

The university's cooperation models continue to innovate and upgrade. It not only strengthens language and professional training through French-speaking faculty and regular lectures by French experts but also, over the past decade, has sent more than 300 students to France and French-speaking countries for language enhancement, clinical practice and joint training, while receiving over 100 French students for study. It continues to promote cultural exchanges between young Chinese and French people.

Joint research in public health, infectious disease prevention and control, and intensive care medicine has achieved multiple results, and through hosting more than 10 high-level academic conferences, the depth of bilateral cooperation continues to expand.

In recent years, the university in Kunming has also collaborated with French institutions to conduct high-altitude mountain rescue training, introducing advanced rescue concepts and techniques to aid in ensuring Yunnan is a safe destination for visitors.

The university said it will continue to deepen exchanges with French partners, explore new models of international cooperation in medical education and make active contributions to advancing medical progress and improving public health.