法国前总理让-皮埃尔·拉法兰近日接受中新网记者专访时表示，中法两国文明历史悠久，源远流长，但现代人对两种文明的差异性了解并不够。过去几十年，中国人民为现代化事业努力奋斗，中国发生了翻天覆地的变化，但这些在欧洲还没有被足够多的人了解到。 因此，拉法兰主张面向两国青年人开设外语学习项目，促进互相理解、增进文明交流。(彭大伟 葛勇 赵丽)

　　Former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said in an interview with ECNS that the civilizations of both China and France have a long and profound history, but modern people do not fully grasp the differences between the two civilizations. Over the past few decades, the Chinese people have shown remarkable courage in paving the way for modernization, and China has undergone tremendous changes, however, much of this is not widely known by the Europeans, Raffarin noted. “Encouraging the study of Chinese in Europe and promoting the learning of French in Asia and China is of paramount importance. Only through such initiatives can we delve more deeply into mutual understanding,” he said.