Air Liquide China ready to enhance innovation in next opening-up phase

With more than three decades of development in China, Air Liquide China is one of many foreign-funded businesses to follow the reform and opening-up of the Chinese market, said Nicolas Poirot, president and CEO of the company.

As a world leader in gases, technologies and services for industry and health, the France-headquartered conglomerate reentered the Chinese market in 1989 through Shanghai.

"Shanghai is the strategic pivot for Air Liquide to develop and expand its business in China.

"It can be said that the development of our business has followed that of the city," Poirot said.

The company's development in China started from its first plant in Shanghai, beginning operations in 1991. Air Liquide has a strong presence in China, where it operates plants in more than 40 cities across the country including Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, with around 5,000 staff members.

"China is one of the top three markets for Air Liquide, with its contribution to the group in terms of revenue increasing for the past few years," the executive said.

"We aim to deliver innovative gas solutions and technologies to a variety of customers at every step of their production process, driving performance and helping them reduce their environmental effects.

"Meanwhile, we make sure our solutions are safe, reliable, cost-effective and sustainable," he said.

Besides its innovative personnel and facilities, the company has developed alternative energy sources.

In 2016, the company launched its innovation campus in Shanghai, which is a crucial base for developing technology in China and the Asia-Pacific region. To date, the campus has completed the development of technologies including high-efficiency syngas purification, sludge reduction and sedimentation improvement and oxy-fuel combustion of solid fuel in a glass kiln.

In addition, Air Liquide has also played its part in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak.

For example, its plants in Wuhan and other cities increased their daily capacity to fill more cylinders of medical oxygen, an essential supply in the fight against COVID-19, according to Poirot.

Appointed as the president and CEO of Air Liquide China in 2019,Poirot presided over the group's operation and management businesses in west and south Europe, South Asia, Southeast Asia and South Africa for more than 20 years.

China is also the largest manufacturer of industrial products and the largest single consumer market, which endows the country with unique advantages that other markets don't have, Poirot said.

"This presents us with a quite favorable market environment," he said.

"Air Liquide is more than willing to participate in the next round of high-level opening-up, from the perspectives of innovation, healthcare, energy-saving and environmental protection solutions," Poirot added.

The group will continue to work with customers and local partners on innovative solutions and to contribute to green and sustainable development in China, he said.