French business talent develops in China
The French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China (CCIFC), founded in 1992 under the inspired leadership of French companies engaged in business in China, has stably increased the number of members each year. 2008 is following the trend of 2007 and the Chamber now has over 1,200 members.
According to its president, Annick de Kermade-Bentzmann, the Chamber has both large companies and small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which play an active part in communication and cooperation with Chinese companies in many fields.
The president said, “Of course the large French companies are all very active in China. But a majority of our members are SMEs. France’s economy has a very large basis of SEMs and our young professionals and entrepreneurs are very talented in creating new companies to produce, create and sell new products, concepts and services.”
She noted that China is giving this opportunity to the SEMs to bring their talents to China, which benefits both France’s and China’s economy.
The president said they really care for the new SEMs members and give them a hand as far as they need. In terms of fixed costs, new SMEs have little room for tactic, so they try to relieve SMEs’ costs.
China takes up almost 10 percent of the trade of French exporting companies, which is already very significant.
“However, our goal is to have more exporters among French companies in France. The role of the French Chamber is to welcome them here and to give them a chance to gain success.” she said.
“All sectors of industry, trade and services are well-represented in the Chamber. It means that as a very sophisticated industrial and economic territory, China is able to appeal the whole range of enterprises, from the primary to the most advanced, from commodities to highly specialized products and services.” the president noted.
The French Chamber, along with the Assembly of French Chambers (ACFCI), has organized for the third year an award for SEMs in France and in China, helping promote the beast performing SEMs or entrepreneur.
She said, “To gain this goal with effort, we work very closely with the French governmental Agency UBIFRANCE which focuses on how to encourage a company based in France to become an exporter in China. Between export, research and development, creativity and economic, financial, market share show is a virtuous circle.”
The role of the French Chamber is more important as it is still quite difficult to access some of the business sectors in China. “Of course, in recent years, there has been a lot of improvement in the business environment in China.” she said.
“The legal conditions of the enterprises in China are much better. Let us mention the labor laws and rights as an example. China has made big progress in regulations that are already applied in many countries, among them France. The French enterprises have developed in China the same way as in France, with high standards in labor laws. The raising of legal standards brings the Chinese companies closer to those already applied within foreign companies.” the president said.
“Our members are still expecting improvements. Let us mention the question of quality and traceability standards of products. There are still difficulties about counterfeiting, respect of copyright, etc. We may also mention the need of improvement in the management of energetic and environmental resources by Chinese companies: petrol consumption, water and air management. The pressure on enterprises in the environmental and energy saving fields should be the same for local and foreign enterprises,” Kermadec-Bentzmann added.
Referring to the worldwide financial crisis, the president said, “In my view, the members of the Chamber will remain highly confident about the future of China as in the past, despite the wide-spread financial crisis.”
She said, “Generally, we may say that French enterprises in China are not on the front line of this crisis since their financial situations are sound. The set up of a company in China goes along wih a good cash situation, without heavy outstanding banking debts, which minimizes losses here.”
She also pointed out that the crisis might have some positive effects in compelling the enterprises into more rigorous governance, which will be pf help for them in the future.
To help French business enter this market and develop successfully is the major role of the Chamber. There are also huge opportunities, such as in aeronautics with Airbus or in energy with EDF, for cooperation between Chinese and French business.
Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?
China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.
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