Foreign and Military Affairs
China, EU see future bilateral ties
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-11-04 08:21
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Beijing's recent diplomatic efforts inspire investment
PARIS - Sitting in his well-furnished office just yards away the Champs-Elysees, Henri de Castries, the steward of AXA Group, France's biggest insurance company, has a special way of describing the magnetism of the Chinese market.
"My flight frequency to China is almost as often as that to the US - where we already have big business," said Castries. "I have flown twice to China during the past six weeks."
A little less than a week before President Hu Jintao's visit to France on Thursday, Castries' group is to enter into a partnership with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Co Ltd (ICBC), and China Minmetals Corporation (Minmetals) in a bid to set up a leading brand in China's life insurance market. Chinese regulatory officials are in the process of reviewing their application.
Castries believes firmly in his China strategy. First, China's economic clout has increased greatly - while catastrophic disasters such as earthquake, floods, droughts and mudslides occur very frequently. "There is huge market potential, and we need to prevent our potential customers in China from economic loss," said Castries.
Second, the ICBC has the widest customer network across China, compared with other commercial banks. "I hope very soon I will fly more to China than to the United States," he said.
Castries' first contact with China dates back to 1975 when he was still a university student of HEC Paris.
Indeed, his enthusiasm for the mainland has endured over the decades. In fact next year, one of his daughters plans to work as an intern at a PR firm in China.
"What has impressed me most was that Chinese people have become more and more confident, free and open-minded to communicate with the rest of the world," Castries said.
Mainly because of the "high quality" of Chinese business executives, Castries said the agreement with ICBC and Minmetals has been finalized within no more than one year. Under the agreement, ICBC will assume the majority stake of 60 percent of the joint life insurance venture, while AXA will hold 27.5 percent and Minmetals will hold the remaining 12.5 percent.
The efficiency, he noted, is due to the fact that businesses leaders and politicians in China and France share long-term perspectives toward their bilateral relationship - despite that there have existed some tensions along the way.
In addition to bilateral economic, trade and cultural relations, Castries said the two countries have already converged on points at European and global levels to boost China-EU ties and rebuild the global governance architecture.
China's recent diplomatic efforts - namely Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Germany and other European countries including debt-stricken Greece and Italy as well as his current trip - are "balancing" arrangements, he added.
Multi-billion deals have been involved in the tours to help Europe recover from economic recession and debt crisis.
"France and Germany are the drivers of the EU, and I think China's arrangement is strategic and balanced," said Castries.
Strengthened China-Europe economic ties have not only boosted inbound investment. Chinese investors have started to set their foot in Europe. Though there is no specific number, China's direct investment in Europe has been doubled last year compared with that of 2008, according to Chinese government.
For example, Sany, the largest heavy equipment manufacturer in China; Huawei, the country's largest telecommunications equipment supplier and COSCO, China's biggest ocean shipping company, have all built their bases in Europe.
"I think President Hu's visit will further improve the investment climate in Europe," said Chu Hua, manager of Sany's France company.
In a similar move to China's recent diplomatic arrangement, Sany has invested 100 million euros ($140 million) in Germany - the most competitive nation in terms of its construction industry - to build a new factory.
