French business leaders vow closer cooperation with China

Business leaders of French companies have pledged to deepen cooperation with China at the seventh China-France Business Council meeting which was held in Beijing on Thursday.

At the meeting, more than 150 attendees from China and France had discussions on three major themes of new models for green and low-carbon cooperative development, new trends in industrial transformation and consumption changes, and new opportunities for cross‑border investment in innovation. Most expressed firm confidence in, and a strong desire to deepen, bilateral cooperation.

"For French companies, like our company, it's a good opportunity to strengthen our collaboration and to further develop if any opportunities come. So, we are quite glad that our French president has come to China again and further explore any research or technological or educational partnership," said Adnan Ezzarhouni, general manager of GTT China, a part of GTT Group, a French multinational naval engineering company.

"The potential for cooperation is very high. What we need together is stability, is to build a real partnership. Because in a world which is more and more complicated, we need to find true friends and to build true partnership and that's clearly what we want to do with China. We are here to stay, we are here to work, we are here to recruit, we are here to invest. That's clearly what we did for the last 20, 40, 50 years. And that's what we want to do for the future," said Marc-Antoine Jamet, secretary general of LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group headquartered in France.

The meeting was co-hosted by Chinese Ministry of Commerce and French Ministry for the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty. The two ministries signed a memorandum on boosting two-way investment between China and France, as both agreed to support and encourage enterprises from both countries to increase two-way investment and provide a fair, just, non-discriminatory, and predictable business environment for enterprises from the other side.

French business leaders vow closer cooperation with China

French business leaders vow closer cooperation with China

Green and low-carbon products are drawing significant attention from global buyers at the ongoing 139th China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair.

The 139th edition of the fair is placing a strong emphasis on "innovation, green development, and intelligence". A total of 1.023 million green products, accounting for 22 percent of the total exhibits, are on display.

During the first phase of the fair from April 15 to 19, a wide range of green and low-carbon products, including new energy vehicles, energy storage batteries, and photovoltaic modules, are showcased.

Many exhibitors have upgraded from offering single products to providing comprehensive solutions for various scenarios, effectively meeting the global demand for energy transition.

"Motorcycle is a very well used way of transport. Particularly today we were surprised to find new technology applied to motorcycle, that is the hybrid. So we think this will be very attractive for our consumers in Uruguay," said Bermúdez del Barrio, a purchaser from Uruguay interested in hybrid motor bikes.

The fair is also hosting a series of new product launches to help make green trade a new driver for foreign trade growth.

The fair opened on Wednesday in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou and will run through May 5, with a record number of more than 32,000 participating enterprises.

Held every spring and autumn in Guangzhou since its founding in 1957, the Canton Fair is seen as a barometer of China's foreign trade.

Green low-carbon products take center stage at 139th Canton Fair