On July 2, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) held the CEIBS Insights · Beijing Forum with the theme of Focusing on the Global Business Environment in a Changing Landscape. This forum brought together 10-odd experts and scholars including Yi Xiaozhun, former deputy director-general of WTO and former vice minister of the Ministry of Commerce of China, Dominique de Villepin, former prime minister of France and distinguished professor of China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), Ding Yuan, vice president and provost of CEIBS and independent director of Adisseo, and Cui Fan, professor of the University of International Business and Economics and director of the Research Department of China WTO Research Association, and other representatives from political and business circles in China and beyond. From multiple perspectives, they interpreted the global governance and optimization of business environment under the great changes, as well as the opportunities and challenges faced by Chinese and foreign enterprises in the dual-circulation development pattern. Hao Zhigang, chairman of Bluestar and Adisseo, was invited to attend the forum.

Chairman Hao said in the roundtable discussions on Review and Prospects of China-Europe Investment Market that Bluestar and Adisseo are practitioners and beneficiaries of China-Europe investment. Bluestar started the technology breakthroughs and capital mergers & acquisitions with the accession of China to the WTO. Since 2006, Bluestar has acquired France’s Adisseo, France’s Rhodia, and Norway’s Elkem, which are equivalent to about 25 billion yuan.

Chairman Hao introduced that the investments of ChemChina and Bluestar in Europe are mainly focused on chemical raw materials and specialty chemicals. In the case of Adisseo, animal feed additives, especially liquid methionine, help to address the need for sustenance, especially for meat consumption, and to ensure reliable, safe and consumable food. Bluestar’s acquisition of France’s Adisseo, which achieved China’s breakthrough in methionine technology, was the first overseas merger & acquisition in China’s basic chemical industry. Adisseo went public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2015, representing the first successful case of securitization of a central enterprise’s overseas M&A project in the domestic capital market. Adisseo has also gained high quality growth and is now the world’s No. 1 liquid methionine company, with a nearly 10-fold increase in market capitalization because of the injection of quality assets.

If you stay focused, you will maintain sustainable economic growth. China and Europe share a wide range of common interests and have broad prospects for cooperation. Mr. Hao is very optimistic about China-EU Investment. At the end of last year, the China-EU Investment Agreement (CEI) negotiations were completed and the implementation of the CEI is highly anticipated. For the future of China-EU investment, he raised two expectations: the interaction between Chinese and European capital markets and the interaction between the RMB and the Euro. Bluestar and Adisseo will fully grasp the historic opportunity of the new stage of China-France economic and trade cooperation. With the support of the senior leaders of both China and France, they will continue to deepen their development in the two markets of China and France and further strengthen Adisseo’s leading position in the animal nutrition and health industry of the global market.

In the post-epidemic era, it is an urgent proposition to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation and join hands to promote global economic recovery In his opening speech, Ding Yuan, vice president and provost of CEIBS and independent director of Adisseo, presented that the world landscape has undergone turbulent changes in the past two years, with such changes accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The vaccine rollout has sped up the recent global recovery in business, economy, and trade. In the context of China’s “double circulations”, the forum discussed the opportunities and challenges in the new environment in a constructive and positive manner. Three sessions were set up in this forum, including the New Opportunities for Multinational Corporations in China under the Double Circulations, the Review and Prospects of China-Europe Investment Market, and the Future of China-US Economic and Trade Relations. They covered the transformation of functions and roles of multinational corporations in the new development stage of China’s “Double Circulations” and under the coexistence of economic stock and increment.

Further development in China and wider markets across the globe. Focusing on the global business environment under the changing situation, Bluestar and Adisseo have made a big push for their high-quality development from a wider international perspective. In building good economic and trade ties between China and Europe, Bluestar and Adisseo, be it direct investment or strategic cooperation, will proactively participate in the regard and contribute their strengths.