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While Emmanuel Macron, traveling in China, is betting on the revival of economic cooperation with the giant, French entrepreneurs on the spot are asking themselves the question of leaving. France is one of the European countries with the most companies on Chinese soil.
The grass would be greener in France than in China: the Malongo roaster has relocated to La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée). Until recently, its coffee machines were manufactured in Canton, China. The French factory employs 30 employees for 350 machines produced per day. For Jean-Pierre Blanc, Managing Director, the last straw was the pandemic and the vagaries of production.
Mass departures
China’s zero-Covid policy has pushed thousands of French expatriates to leave: there were 64,000 in 2017, compared to 22,400 in 2020. “We now still have businesses that are not doing well enough, and no flagrant return of French people to Shanghai”, laments Yohann Houseaux, of the Polux restaurant which attracted a French clientele. For Matthieu Algard, CEO of the Créa-D bag brand, there is no question of leaving. No one talks about a Chinese miracle anymore, but Made in China is not about to disappear and continues to flood the world.
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