Manuel Valls presided this Monday the laying of the first stone of a future Chinese Led factory near Verdun in the Meuse. A private investment of 100 million euros is planned, the largest ever by China in France.
The site, which will initially employ 200 employees, will also host an R&D center, in partnership with the French group Arelis.
About 15% of engineers and technicians will be Chinese. The rest, between 80 and 85% of all employees, will be French, said Mr. Meng, stressing the importance of Made in France to conquer the European market, where products from China have a bad image.
It is «because France is the heart of Europe» that the Chinese company chose the Meuse to build its first factory outside China, explained the director of the Inesa Europe entity, Zhaoqi Meng.
Inesa, which bought the light bulb manufacturer Sylvania last January, has an ambitious goal: to make France its advanced base for selling its LED systems to local authorities, manufacturers, airports or motorways.
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Le Figaro 21 mars 2016
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