Building Sino-French ties on brands

Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France, announces the names of the first 15 people who have been nominated for the "50 persons, 50 years" honor, on Jan 25, 2014 in Beijing. [Photo by Song Jingli/chinadaily.com.cn]

Well-known brands can help further cement ties between China and France, says a former envoy.

France boosts a lot of big brand names that have deep-rooted cultural ties while China, despite its splendid culture, lacks world-class brands, said former Chinese ambassador to France Wu Jianmin at the Dialogue of Ambassadors event held by Beijing Yishu 8 on Jan 25 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.

Beijing Yishu 8 and the China Philanthropy Research Institute also launched a "50 persons, 50 years" nomination to thank those for having played a substantial role in the Sino-France friendship. Pierre Cardin, an Italian-born French fashion designer and Jiang Qionger, who co-founded the brand Shang Xia with Hermes, were nominated.

Wu said investors need to understand that brands could be an area of high potential for cooperation between Chinese and French companies.

Eve Group chairwoman Xia Hua said at a round-table talk that there is a big difference between Chinese people and French people when it comes to dealing with their artifacts. French people have built many brands, such as Hermes, by drawing inspiration from their artifacts and made them memorable, while Chinese people place their artifacts in museums, she said.

Xia, whose company specializes in high-end men's suits, has been cooperating with French designers for some time. She said at the early stage of their partnership, some French artists requested that they stay more in France than in China. But after having actually lived in China for a while, they wanted to stay in China longer than in France. It's a process of understanding, Xia added.

Wang Chaoyong, an investment banker, said he has been partnering with French people for almost 10 years and found that Chinese people knew more about France than vice-verse. Wang acquired a French yatch club Le Defi in 2005 and made it manage the America's Cup - China Team, the first Chinese team to participate in this international yachting competition.

He said many Chinese people learn about France in schools or colleges, or by reading novels - and they admire the French culture. But many young French people do not yet know much about China.

Wang suggested that entrepreneurs should fund Sino-French cultural exchange.