China's continued opening-up of its financial sector in recent years has presented significant opportunities for Chinese and foreign joint venture companies and enabled deeper collaboration involving foreign capital, according to a senior executive for a wealth management division jointly launched by French multinational bank BNP Paribas.
Alexandre Werno is CEO of the BNP Paribas ABC Wealth, a joint venture between BNP Paribas Asset Management and the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) Wealth Management which was launched in 2023 and is based in Shanghai.
Speaking with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Shanghai on Sunday, Werno shared his insights on the progress of China's financial market, and the importance of adapting global practices into local realities.
Werno said he has personally witnessed considerable changes and reforms after spending close to two decades in China, and noted that the opening-up has been "more and more obvious" during the last "six to seven years" in particular.
"Actually, I am really a testimony of this, as a foreigner being there for so many years and the JV (joint venture) that we created between BNP Paribas Asset Management and the Agricultural Bank of China Wealth Management is really a good example of this opening [and how it works]. What we did, obviously, is to avoid the 'copy and paste' from overseas global practices here locally. So, we need to adapt. All the frameworks need to be adapted to the local context with the huge work, which is one of the conditions to make it a success," Werno said.
He then underlined the importance of having a diverse talent pool which combines both local and international talents as being key to the success of his companies, and most importantly, the commitment to continuous communication with local authorities.
"Something that I really have attached great importance with the team is the ongoing dialogue with the regulator to understand what are the expectations, how we can adjust our business model, our business direction to be sure that we fit with what is expected from this Sino-foreign type of company," he said.
Werno noted that the birth of the BNP Paribas ABC Wealth has been a great example of how BNP Paribas has adapted to the Chinese market and said it is now pushing for greater investment in green and environmentally-friendly projects.
"When we created a new JV, one of the conditions was how we are able to apply a global BNP Paribas ESG (environmental, social, and governance) standard onshore. Obviously, it wasn't possible to apply them from the beginning, like a 'copy-and-paste,' as I just mentioned, methodology. So, we need to have a lot of adaptation to make it happen. And from this perspective, I think that this Sino-European partnerships with our company was very fruitful, because both sides understand that it was like between the two regions, Europe and China, [there were] some very important topics that we need to deliver and to make it happen," said Werno.
"Lastly, and this is my ultimate goal for the company and hopefully we can be a big contributor, is how to generate inflows into the capital market in China investing in green bonds, in ESG-rated equities and stock and so on. It is something that we hopefully will be able to develop because once again, since we are bridge between China and Europe and overseas, people understand overseas what we are doing as well from each perspective, besides the local investor, we might develop the trust of international investor investing into Chinese assets with this green and ESG methodology," Werno added.
China's opening-up facilitates development of Sino-foreign joint ventures: BNP Paribas executive
