【Starting from 2017, the Shanghai Municipal Foreign Affairs Office, together with district governments, has started hosting the "Internationalized Shanghai Promotion Series" to help Shanghai turn itself into an international economic, financial, trade, shipping and technology innovation center, and become a global city of excellence and a modern socialistic international metropolis.

Following the first two events in Yangpu and Jing'an District, this May, an event series will be held in Huangpu. The event will highlight the advantages of the financial agglomeration in the Bund area and promote the Innovation and Development Demonstration Area for the High-end Service Industry at Bund Waterfront. Eastday.com sat down with some expats who shared their stories of living and working in Huangpu.】

In the office at the center of the Bund, Javier Gimeno, President of the Saint Gobain Group's Asia Pacific division, welcomed the interviewer. Javier comes from Madrid, Spain. He is the company's "busy man" and had only just finished a meeting before meeting us. Although his daily schedule is full, the first impression he gives me is that he is hale and hearty.

Javier takes part in the company's research of new materials. [Photo provided to Eastday]

Hardly had I greeted him in English when he made a self-introduction in Chinese. “My name is Meng Haowen, I can speak Chinese. I speak well, because I have been living in Shanghai for seven and a half years. I love Shanghai. It is the best city in China. My families also like Shanghai. I learn Chinese every day. But Chinese is very hard to learn. I travel a lot and have not enough time to learn.”

The company’s communication director Catherine Liu added that Gimeno has a Chinese class almost everyday when he is not on an out-of-town business trip. No sooner had she finished than Javier emphasized in Chinese, “I love Chinese culture. I love Shanghai.”

Javier initiated and personally participated in the company's healthy running activities. [Photo provided to Eastday]

For Javier, Shanghai’s diversity fascinates him. Here he could make lots of friends with people from both China and abroad. Compared with other cities like Paris, Madrid, and Berlin where he often goes for business, Shanghai is more dynamic. “Everything is evolving at high speed. There is always something new. People here are open-minded and friendly. Foreigners feel welcome here, which is fantastic.”

When it comes to Shanghai's appeal to all kinds of talents, he said the city has a lot of excellent universities, which are important for multinational companies like Saint-Gobain. The ecosystem around Shanghai is also better than other places, which is favorable.

He commented that Shanghai is the engine of China’s economic growth and leads the race in modernisation. “It is the reform and opening up that has promoted China’s economic development and made China the center of economic gravity in Asia. Therefore, Saint Gobain moved its headquarter from Tokyo to Beijing. In 2007, it moved to Shanghai because we found that the real economy and business environment in Shanghai is better than Beijing.”

“Shanghai has a superior location and convenientntransportation. Our headquarters in Shanghai is growing. It is worth mentioning that the Huangpu district government gave us a lot of support, we like working freely within a framework which is stable and sustainable to make common progress with the district government.”

Saint Gobain set up its Shanghai office in Huangpu in 2005, during which process, the district government offered lots of support to help solve various problems.

According to Javier, it is thanks to the government’s support that this world top 500 enterprise which mainly operates the production and sales of high-tech materials currently owns over 50 manufacturing sites and one Research and Development Centre in China, with more than 8,500 employees and a sales volume of more than 10 billion yuan in 2017.

Javier pointed out that although there is still room for improvement in municipal administration and international schools distribution, he still enjoys the city life here and loves running on Pudong riverside avenue every evening. “The track is the best track for running in China. I love that. And the night life in Shanghai is also very rich. There are lots of bars and clubs. It is quite safe here.” 

His eyes are filled with endless love. “The cultural life here is wonderful. It has first-class galleries of art and theaters, and water villages are attractive for people to enjoy a slow pace of life.”

As Javier bids us farewell in Chinese and rushes off to another meeting, we leave him delighted to know that the city that we both call home, fills him with such joy.