Chinese authorities rolled out the red carpet for French pharmaceutical and healthcare giant Sanofi, which plans to invest around 1 billion euros (US$1.05 billion) to build a new insulin plant in Beijing – the company’s single biggest capital outlay in the world’s second-largest economy.
Vice-Premier He Lifeng on Tuesday told Sanofi chairman Frédéric Oudéa that China will continue to improve its operating environment for businesses and welcome European firms in the country, according to a Xinhua news agency report.
Their meeting came after Beijing Communist Party Secretary Yin Li, also a member of China’s 24-member Politburo, met Oudéa on Monday. Yin said Beijing hopes Sanofi will speed up the project and bring new drugs to China, according to the official Beijing Daily. He also expected Sanofi to deepen its ties with local pharmaceutical enterprises and medical institutes in areas such as artificial intelligence, according to the report.
