RESEARCH ETHICS COMMITTEES AND BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH IN FRANCE AND IN CHINA: COMPARING SYSTEMS AND REGULATION REGARDING INDEPENDENCE AND INFORMED CONSENT PRINCIPLES

Abstract

International collaborations in biomedical research
between eastern and western countries, such as China
and France, require full consideration of ethical aspects
and human rights for ensuring best practices, safety and
dignity for the participants. Research Ethics Committees (RECs) reviewing biomedical research projects are
central organs in the ethical governance of researches
involving human beings internationally recognized as
one of the guaranties for protecting human rights and
wellbeing of the research participants. Countries like
France and China engaged, at international level, to set
up effective national ethical review systems.
This paper adopts a comparative law approach of
the French and Chinese RECs’ systems. It intends to
provide, for each country, a description of the current RECs’ organization and regulation in order to give an overview of their shared characteristics and
specificities. We address the general regulatory frameworks applying to French and Chinese RECs and we
make a focus on two important topics for RECs’ review namely the requirements for informed consent
and the guarantees of independence. Ultimately, we
provide an overview of the existing challenges to consider for improving research participants’ protection
in each country while allowing scientific activities to
be responsibly carried out in the respect of cultural
backgrounds.