Economy

From 1 to 25,000, Veolia has come a long way

By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-06 09:01

BEIJING - Jorge Mora distinctly remembers the rainy day when he first set foot in Beijing in November 1994 as the sole employee of Veolia Environnement in China.

Today, the China arm of the French environmental services provider has some 25,000 people on its rolls and is involved in projects in more than 30 cities across the country.

Jorge Mora says Veolia will have a bright future in China as its products just fi t well the needs of the country.

Mora, 66, chief executive officer of Veolia Environnement Asia, uses the phrase "day and night" to describe the difference in China's environmental conscience over the past 16 years.

In the early 1990s, almost everyone only cared about economic growth, said Mora. Between then and now, China has taken great strides in environmental protection, he added.

"It was night then. It's day now."

China has pledged to reduce its carbon print by 40 to 45 percent by 2020 from the level in 2005.

It took Veolia almost three years to get its first project in the country - a water treatment project in North China's Tianjin municipality.

But the company has since come a long way, which is a reflection of China's determination to go green, Mora said.

Veolia's business in China witnessed accelerated growth in 2000 and managed a turnover of a whopping $2 billion in 2009.

"It (China) is a very friendly market," said Mora. "To me, China is as open as any Western market, and sometimes even more."

Today, Veolia's four business sectors - water management, waste management, energy management and transportation - have all entered China.

Mora is confident that each of the four sectors has a bright future as they fit well with the country's needs.

At present, the company's turnover in China accounts for around 2.5 percent of its total revenue. It expects to increase the figure to around 10 percent in the next five years, he said.

Mora said his confidence in the Chinese market grew when he heard Premier Wen Jiabao's speech at the Summer Davos in Tianjin in September.

"The premier insisted that foreign companies will be treated equally in China. I totally trust what he said."

Mora admitted that the Chinese market is very competitive and most of Veolia's competitors are domestic companies.

But it only shows the market is fairly open, he said. "You face competition in an open market. You cannot improve if you don't have competitors."

In order to win the market, Veolia is committed to bringing the latest technology to China. For instance, state-of-the-art technologies were applied in the company's two waste and water treatment projects in Shanghai, Mora said.