After nearly a year of planning and preparation, the 2024 Paris Design Week – China Creative Pavilion officially opened on September 7 at 8 p.m. local time in France. With a brand new look, it made a brilliant appearance at the world-class design event.

Prof. Lou Yongqi, Vice President of Tongji University, and Mr. Franck MILLOT, Director of Paris Design Week, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. As the representative of the organizer and one of the curators, Lou Yongqi introduced new ideas, concerns, and innovations in Chinese design, and mentioned that the active cultural exchange between the two countries is a perfect start. In the future, mankind will face many challenges, and more design wisdom and courage are needed, as well as the joint efforts of designers from all over the world. Mr. Franck MILLOT wished the China-France friendship to last forever and wished Tongji University and the participating designers a better development. Afterwards, Lou Yongqi and Franck MILLOT jointly presented certificates to the participating designers.

The opening ceremony was co-hosted by Ms. Sonia Su, a representative of the Paris Design Week China Strategic Cooperation Project, and Mr. Raphael Kao, the chief planner. After the brief ceremony, Lou Yongqi and other distinguished guests, as well as professionals from the Chinese and French design industries, visited the exhibition.

As one of the official FACTORY events, the Pavilion will be a platform for annual exhibitions. It is not only a tribute to the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations, but also shows the firm determination of Chinese original design to enter the world stage.

Chinese Way of Beauty, the theme of this year’s exhibition, showcased China’s original design in three dimensions, patterns, methods, and styles, which conveyed profound Chinese cultural heritage and innovative spirit. The exhibition showcased works from 17 groups of Chinese designers and design brands, covering categories such as furniture, home furnishings, tableware, fragrance, lifestyle, etc., attracting practitioners and enthusiasts from all over the world. The exhibition also includes new works by 5 Tongji D&I faculty members.

From September 5 to 11, the total number of visitors to the China Creative Pavilion exceeded 35,000, including dozens of distinguished French guests. The related social media posts have received more than 30,000 views and interactions. It also attracted the attention of many media, such as M6, the French national TV channel, which visited the China Creative Pavilion three times and gave high praise to Chinese design in its report.

A design forum was also held during the exhibition. Authoritative experts, scholars, artists, designers, and representative brands were invited to promote Chinese original design to a wider market. More foreign design brands and talents are looked forward to coming to Shanghai in the future. This exhibition is hoped to take as an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and cooperation in education, culture, art and design, and tourism, speed up the resumption of people-to-people exchanges, launch more international projects and inject new vitality into China-EU relations.