The Pasteur Institute in France has announced that it has decided to suspend its partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing regarding the Institute Pasteur of Shanghai .

In a statement, the Pasteur Institute said that it ceased to be involved in the activities of the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai and stopped co-leading the structure with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"The Institut Pasteur decided in December 2022 to suspend its partnership agreement with the Chinese Academy of Sciences regarding the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai. This choice was made in order to begin a new cycle of conversations for improving the relationship between the two organizations and finding a more productive way to work together," Pasteur Institute said in a statement.

The Institute Pasteur of Shanghai has not been an active member of the Pasteur Network since 2021 when the Pasteur Network Foundation was established as part of the change in governance of the Pasteur Network, the statement added.

It further said that both parties remain determined to work together in the future because of the scientific interest of the collaborative research conducted by the Pasteur Institute and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in recent years.

Earlier in 2004, the Pasteur Institute in Shanghai was inaugurated in presence of then French President Jacques Chirac, Chinese Academy of Sciences President Lu Yongxiang and Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng, the Pasteur Institute said in the press release.

The agreement followed the signing of a letter of intent on 28 January, 2004 in Paris, amidst then Chinese President Hu Jintao and French PM Jean-Pierre Raffarin, of the Pasteur Institute and the Chinese Academy of Sciences' mutual intention to create an Institut Pasteur in Shanghai.

Image courtesy: Institut Pasteur