Danone CEO expresses confidence in continued growth in China

Multinational food-products corporation Danone is highly confident in its continued growth in China, CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique told People's Daily Online in an interview at the China Development Forum on March 24.

"China is absolutely critical for world growth. If China doesn't grow, the world is not growing," de Saint-Affrique said. He added that the Chinese government's commitment to a 5-percent GDP growth rate and the unleashing of new quality productive forces give him significant confidence in the Chinese market.

"We have huge confidence that growth will continue in China, but also that China will contribute to the growth of the world," he said.

Increasing health awareness among consumers represents an opportunity for expansion. As a leading food and beverage company, Danone plans to further explore this emerging consumption trend in China.

"China is a market of opportunity. It's a huge market. It's an extraordinarily sophisticated market. It's a market where we innovate locally in China for China and the rest of the world," he mentioned.

"It's a place where we see lots of opportunities for the world," he said.

"The opportunity comes not only from a consumption standpoint, but also from a responsible and harmonious consumption standpoint. So, there are plenty of opportunities to create shared prosperity in China," de Saint-Affrique noted.

(Ye Jingyi, as an intern, also contributed to this video.)