Navigating the New Global and Cross Border Investment in China

On 13 November 2018, Societe Generale China organized its inaugural corporate seminar under the theme of "Navigating the New Global" in Beijing, welcoming Corporate and Financial Institution clients with the participation of Societe Generale representatives from Global Finance, Global Markets and Global Transaction & Payment Services based in Hong Kong, Paris, Russia and Africa.

The event set up the conversations between clients and a number of industry experts and internal speakers, focusing on the growing trend of cross-border investment, amidst the uncertainties surrounding the Chinese and global economy.  During the event a few panel discussions took place to explore the best practices in corporate financing and market risk management through successful cases with the involvement of Societe Generale.

China's outlook

Yao Wei, Lead Economist of Asia-Pacific and Chief China Economist, Societe Generale, commented in her presentation that as countries see different economic growth trends, the policies adopted by central banks would be more different. Global capital flow would impose pressure on exchange rates of emerging markets and on global asset prices

"Although efforts to ‘deleverage and derisk’ are unpleasant in short term, they will be beneficial in long term. Societe Generale is not pessimistic about China's economy."

According to Societe Generale Cross Asset Research, Chinese policymakers are shifting its attention from "the speed of growth" to "the quality of growth". And this is the best choice for China to further reform and open up to attract more foreign investment, which is also the best way for private enterprises to meet challenges and embrace opportunities.

Societe Generale's development strategy in China

During his opening speech, Pierre-Yves Bonnet, Group Country Head and Chairman for Societe Generale China explained the bank's ambition in China.

"Our strategy to grow our presence in China is concentrated around customer demands - understanding what they need and providing them with the right offerings. We are well positioned to become the relationship bank clients choose and trust to help them connect with the global market. Thank you for partnering Societe Generale and let's work together to navigate the new global."

The green transformation

Stephen Swift, Head of Global Finance, Societe Generale Asia Pacific, introduced our expertise in green finance and the ambition to help Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to speed up their green transformation.

"There are two important factors behind green transformation. One is the recognition of climate change. It is a very important issue which will impact the whole world. The other is the urgent financing demand in the market. Climate change, population growth etc. make us face a very urgent situation with challenges, so we need to reform the business model for a more sustainable future. In fact China is very active in green financing activities with the size of green bond issuance reaching over 20 billion US dollars between January to December 2017. We are working closely with our Chinese partners to enhance the demand for China's green bonds in the next few years and also the investment for the benefit of all stakeholders' long-term business growth"