The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and France took a significant step towards bolstering economic cooperation last Friday, with the conclusion of a high-level conference in Paris.
The conference yielded a total of 36 bilateral investment and trade cooperation projects, worth a collective US$3.22 billion, according to an official Chinese website. More than 400 representatives from French companies were in attendance.
The GBA was praised for its immense market potential and rich talent pool by Norbert Ducrot, president of the French water park company Wavelandes. Ducrot, a former CEO of Airbus Helicopters China, identified the GBA as the ideal setting for France and China to collaborate in critical sectors including software, hardware, electronics, and artificial intelligence.
[See more: President Xi Jinping declares meeting with French counterpart ‘productive’]
Attendees were also told that the GBA could serve as a useful gateway to the vast Chinese market. Major French firms already operating in the region include the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, EDF Energy (headquartered in the UK but French-owned) and the food company Danone, according to Gilles-Henry Garault, vice chairman of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry.
Trade volumes between the GBA and France reportedly reached 24.86 billion yuan (almost US$3.5 billion) in the first quarter of 2024, an 11 percent increase from the previous year.
Last week’s conference followed a state visit by Chinese president Xi Jinping to France earlier this month.
