European Companies Taking Root in China

“THE newly-opened plant in Yangzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province, is the 54th production base of Saint-Gobain in China. We are optimistic about the Chinese market and our future here,” Javier Gimino, senior vice president and Asia Pacific CEO of Saint-Gobain Group, expressed his full confidence in China’s economic development.

- HU YUE

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world, leading to a global economic downturn. Despite the fact that Western media have been badmouthing China, its resilient economy has given European companies great confidence in doing business in China. Saint-Gobain Group is among the many companies who are determined to continue their operation in China.

Responding to China’s Low Carbon Call

In May, this French industrial conglomerate opened its 54th plant in China to produce gypsum-based plasters for the local construction market, having operated in China for 36 years. According to Javier Gimino, the new plant is marked by “low energy consumption and negative carbon emissions.”

“Chinese President Xi has on various occasions stressed China’s new goals for green development. This is a reflection of the sense of responsibility China has as the world’s second largest economy, and also shows the direction for foreign companies operating in the country,” said Gimino. “We are in long-term cooperation with Yangzhou municipal government. When we learned that Yangzhou No. 2 Power Plant generates 400,000 tons of desulfurization gypsum waste every year, we decided to build a gypsum plant next to it to use the waste from its power generation as raw materials for gypsum production, thus forming a comprehensive industrial chain of solid waste utilization.”

Presently, the first phase of the gypsum plant can produce 600,000 tons per year and consume more than 400,000 tons of desulfurization gypsum solid waste per year.