CRI听力:Memorial Hall in France to commemorate late Chinese leaders

The memorial hall is located in Montargis, a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France on the Loing river.

At Saturday's opening ceremony, the city's mayor, Jean-Pierre Door, related the story behind the decision to build the facility.

"I still clearly remember that it was on September 19, 2014, Vice Premier Liu Yandong and I expressed our common wish that we should have a memorial hall to commemorate the history of late Chinese leaders working and studying in France."

The small city is located about 110 km south of Paris and known for its Gothic cathedral, flowered bridges and canals.

But when the French communist party was born in the 1920s, it was a hotbed of leftist sentiment and became home to hundreds of Chinese young people who came to study and work in the hope of looking for ways to change their feudal homeland.

Among those were Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping.

In his speech, Chinese Ambassador to France Zhai Jun highlighted the importance of the experiences the late Chinese leaders had obtained there to their lifelong careers.

"Late Chinese leaders, including Zhou Enlai and Deng Xiaoping, once came to study here. The experiences they got in France had significantly influenced their thoughts and career of a lifetime. It inspired them a lot when they later decided to embark on a path of revolution, founded a new China and planned for massive economic reforms."

The memorial hall was built at the former residence of Chinese educator and political activist Li Shizeng.

After coming to Paris in 1902, Li took a graduate degree in chemistry and biology. He was a supporter of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities and then created the so-called Diligent Work-Frugal study programs which brought Chinese students to France for work in factories.

The government of central China's Hunan province decided to buy the building when its governor came to the city for an official visit some years ago.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Hu Henghua, the mayor of Hunan's capital city Changsha, expected the memorial hall to bring the Chinese and French people closer together.

"Today, more than 100 years later, the memorial hall opens a window and set up a bridge between the Chinese and French people and helps the two sides to carry forward their friendship."

On Saturday, Changsha and Montargis also signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further promote the inter-city cooperation and exchange.

Some 90 years ago, more than 300 Chinese people came to France under the Diligent Work-Frugal study programs.

Also on their list were Chinese military commanders Chen Yi and Nie Rongzhen.

In 1964, France became the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

For CRI, this is Bridget Grace.