AXA sponsors the 13th China-France Economic Seminar

In April, AXA was a participating sponsor of the 13th China-France Economic Seminar. The theme of this conference staged by the French France-China Committee was "Managers of the 21st century."

The France-China Committee has organized the China-France Economic Seminar each year since 1995. The bilateral event, held in China and attended by several hundred Chinese entrepreneurs, enables French companies to promote themselves and share their know-how with their Chinese counterparts.

The 13th China-France Economic Seminar was held on April 10 and 11, 2007, in Beijing. About 500 Chinese participants attended the two-day event presided by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1) lending an attentive ear to presentations and debates on "Managers of the 21st century. "The event gained extensive media coverage: TV, press, Internet Websites.

Co-hosted by the France-China Committee, the China Council for Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and the Development Research Center (DRC) of the State Council, the seminar was also supported by major French or European companies such as Air France, Areva, AXA, RBS, Suez, Veolia, Air Liquide, EADS, EDF and KPMG.

Yu Ping, Vice President of the CCPIT, Denis Kessler, Chairman of the France-China Committee, Sun Xiaoyu, Vice President of the DRC, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Zeng Peiyan, Vice Premier of the State Council, opened the inaugural session.

During the inaugural session, Fabrice Lorillon, AXA's representative in China, made a presentation titled "Human capital: our leading resource." He also participated in the round table and meetings with Chinese officials, as a member of the French delegation.

The AXA workshop on April 11th was organized with the assistance three partners - Minmetals(2), HEC(3) and Tsinghua School of Management (SEM) (4). Its aim was to discuss the main topic from distinct yet complementary points of view and answer the following questions: How do a multinational company (AXA) and an international Chinese company (Minmetals) recruit and train managers, and what are their career plans? How do Chinese and French business schools train future managers, using examples from Tsinghua SEM and HEC

(1) Mouvement des entreprises de France, a French employer's confederation.
(2) AXA's partner for its joint-venture in China, AXA-Minmetals.
(3) Hautes études commerciales, a leading French business school.
(4) Business school of the prestigious Chinese university Tsinghua. The Tsinghua School of Management and HEC are partners in the Financial education cooperation program sponsored by AXA.