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Carrefour 'committed' to China market

By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-29 09:38

Amid the controversy surrounding the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay, French retail giant Carrefour said for the first time that it remains committed to the Chinese market and will continue with plans to expand in the country.

Related readings:  Carrefour reiterates support for Olympics  Carrefour staff put on patriotic uniforms  Carrefour scraps May Day sales plan  Carrefour supports Beijing Olympics: chairman

In an exclusive interview with China Daily, Eric Legros, the French company's China president and CEO, also reaffirmed the company's full support of the Beijing Olympics and denied allegations of its involvement in the country's internal politics.

He expressed regret over the incident in Paris earlier this month, where the torch relay was marred by the violent activities of Tibetan separatists. Attempts to rob the torch from disabled Chinese torchbearer Jin Jing infuriated Chinese who later called for a boycott of the French supermarket chain during the upcoming May Day holidays.

"We feel really sorry about what happened in Paris," Legros said.

"It's a shame that in France the Olympic torch was not greeted with passion. We apologized, our ambassador in China apologized and French President Nicholas Sarkozy invited Jin Jing to revisit France."

In a letter delivered last week, Sarkozy invited Jin Jing, who protected the torch from a Tibetan separatist's attempt to snatch it during the relay, to visit France again to "make up for the pain" she suffered.

Legros' reassurance comes at a time when anti-France tension continues to run high among Chinese. In a bid to show its support for the Beijing Games, Carrefour said it is putting out large-sized advertisements in major domestic newspapers to convey its good wishes for the capital.

Carrefour, which made its first foray in the China market in 1995, employs more than 45,000 local employees, accounting for 99 percent of its total staff. With 112 stores on the Chinese mainland, the company has reported annual sales of nearly 30 billion yuan ($4.28 billion) in China, with 99 percent of its products made in the country.

Legros said the company will open more than 20 stores on the mainland this year and hire about 8,000 Chinese.

Rather than a wholly French-owned company, Legros said a great number of Carrefour's stores in China are joint ventures in which Chinese partners hold a share of between 30 and 40 percent. The company has been supporting the nation's efforts to promote energy-saving measures and food safety, Legros said.

"We have followed the Chinese policies with various projects, and did our best to bring our expertise and technology to the China market in the past years by training and promoting young Chinese managers. I believe someday our China president will be a Chinese rather than a French," he said.

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