Jean-Pierre RAFFARIN

Bio

Jean-Pierre Raffarin was born in 1948 in Poitiers. He graduated from the Ecole supérieure de commerce de Paris and was a lecturer at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris. Since 2007, he has been a professor at ESCP Europe.

Responsibilities at the national level:

• From 1988, the youngest President of a region, he will spend 18 years at the head of the regional executive of Poitou-Charentes. He was also a member of the European Parliament, a Quaestor and President of the Association of French Regions.
• From 1995 to 1997, he was Minister of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Trade and Crafts.
• Prime Minister of Jacques Chirac from May 2002 to May 2005. He was elected Senator of Vienne in 1995. He was Vice President of the Senate from March 2011 to September 2014. He was Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces from October 2014 to July 2017.

International activities:

• Special Representative for the French government for China since January 2018 ;
• President of the NGO "Leaders for Peace";
• President of the Fondation Prospective et Innovation;
• Member of the Committee of Advisors of the BOAO Forum (Asia);
• Chairman of the Annual Forum of the France-China Committee;
• Member of the Board of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai;
• Member of the Board of "Premium Imperiale" - Tokyo Personal Representative of the President of the French Republic for the Francophonie (from 2009 to 2012). Several presidential missions, including one related to economic relations with Algeria.

His latest works:

• Ce que la Chine nous a appris, Book in Chinese written with Anne-Marie Raffarin, 2010
• Je marcherai toujours à l'affectif, Flammarion 2012
• China, the great paradox: for the awakening of Europe, Michel Lafon, 2019