Chengdu charms French investors

Home to the most international flights, consulates and Fortune Global 500 companies in central and western China, the city of Chengdu is attracting leading French enterprises in transport, construction, manufacturing, online gaming, medicine, retail, entertainment and more.

As one of the new first-tier cities and an important transport junction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, has become one of the most popular destinations in China for French investors.

This is in part due to the city's dynamic market, rich human resources, great business potential among other factors. The French National Railway Company and Aden Group, a France-based integrated facility management company, have signed an agreement with the Shuangliu district. During the Chengdu TOD Business Development Conference held last month they agreed to construct a commercial complex integrated with Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.

The complex, accessible by subway or by road, will feature offices, shops, entertainment and cultural facilities and other functions. It's expected to become an important city landmark, whose design will be inspired by the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and New York's Grand Central Terminal.

French investors have also shown interest in Chengdu's transport sector.

Alstom Group, global sustainable mobility company, transferred its Citadis 302 tram technology to CRRC Chengdu branch, to build the No 2 tramway line in the city. The first section of the line opened in December 2018.

In July 2018, Chengdu Alstom Transport Electric Equipment Co was put into operation, producing traction systems for urban railways. It is the first manufacturing site Alstom has opened in China since 2006, which demonstrates that Chengdu has become one of the most strategic markets for Alstom in China.

Alstom currently provides traction systems for 1,452 metro cars on four metro lines in Chengdu.

In May 2017, Alstom's joint venture, Casco Signal, established a subsidiary company in Chengdu's Jinniu district to serve its business in western China. So far, Alstom and Casco Signal have supplied signaling systems for five metro lines in Chengdu and more than 60 metro lines in the Chinese mainland.

France-based video game company Ubisoft Entertainment has operated in Chengdu for almost 11 years. Its local studio was expanded from 2,000 square meters to 3,000 sq m in December. The number of employees has also grown from 240 to 375.

"We doubled our investment here due to the good performance," said Jean-Francois Vallee, studio manager of Ubisoft in Chengdu. He said it will increase the current investment by 50 percent in the near future.

The studio has evolved from a service provider to a major game development center in western China over the last decade. It has also cooperated with local universities and companies in human resources training and technical support.

Vallee said he has seen a dramatic change in the city, especially in the prosperity of the games industry. The studio has gathered talents from 10 countries. Many of the early employees hired in Chengdu are now in the executive team.

Chengdu has also become a growing biopharmaceutical industry base in western China and has attracted many French companies.

French biopharmaceutical giant Sanofi, also a Fortune Global 500 enterprise, announced it would settle its central and western China's operation and innovation center, as well as its global research and operation center in Chengdu in July 2018. The company chose China as its third clinical sciences base, following France and the United States.

"Chengdu is an important market for SanofiChina. It has many scientific research facilities and plentiful human resources, providing an ideal base for our development in central and western China," said Jean-Christophe Pointeau, country chair of SanofiChina.

The new global research and operation center will cover diabetes, cardiovascular, vaccines and tumors, with an investment of 500 million yuan ($74 million). It expects to hire 300 local scientists by 2020 and establish close links with scientific institutes and medical centers worldwide.

French companies in various fields, such as finance, retail, manufacturing and public services have also invested in Chengdu. That includes French insurer Groupama; retailers Auchan and Carrefour; industrial giant Lafarge; carmaker Groupe PSA; electrical giant Schneider Electric; and Suez Environnement, a world-leading water and waste service company.

The many cooperative platforms also aid the development of French companies in Chengdu. For example, the Chengdu Sino-French Ecopark, in the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, is a national-level cooperative project both in China and France. It provides a platform for Chinese and French companies to cooperate in intelligent transportation, intelligent energy, high-end equipment manufacturing, energy-saving and environmental protection, with the aim of promoting green and low-carbon development.

In September 2018, a French commodities exhibition pavilion was opened at the Chengdu International Railway Port, dis-playing various products imported from France by China Railway Express. It also provides services in trade, culture, education, tourism and investment.

The GDP of Chengdu grew 8 percent to surpass 1.53 trillion yuan last year. By the end of 2018, the city operates 114 international or regional flights, has 17 consulates and 285 Fortune Global 500 companies, ranking top in central and western China. Last year, Chengdu rose to the 71st place in terms of city comprehensive competitiveness among world cities as ranked by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

(China Daily 03/26/2019 page5)