The CMA CGM Group hosted the Chinese Prime Minister, the French Foreign Affairs Minister and a ministerial delegation at its headquarters in Marseilles, July 1, the global shipping company announced.
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang was accompanied by France Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius, the Minister of State for Foreign Trade Matthias Fekl and an important Chinese ministerial delegation during this visit. This delegation included the Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Yi Wang, the Reform and Development Commission Minister Shaoshi Xu, the Trade Minister Hucheng Gao, the Chinese ambassador in France Jun Zhai, and the Consul General Jinsong Yu.
During this exceptional visit, two agreements strengthening the ties between the CMA CGM Group and China were signed by Jacques R. Saadé, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of CMA CGM Group, Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM Vice Chairman, Doctor Hu, Executive Vice President China Merchants Group Limited and Liu Vice Chairman and Chairman of CEXIM:
The first agreement is for a partnership between China Merchants (CMHI) and CMA CGM to develop the strategic “One Belt, One Road” project, a strategy initiated by the Chinese government to develop many infrastructure and ports-related logistics projects. CMA CGM and China Merchants (CMHI) agreed on a common and primary interest. They signed a strategic partnership on July 1 to investigate and evaluate together, as their priority, the investment opportunities. Those opportunities will be part of the maritime dimension of the “One Belt, One Road Project”: the “Maritime Silk Road”. The CMA CGM Group said it is the first company to sign such an agreement with a Chinese company for this strategic project.
The second deal will see a $1 billion (USD) financing solutions framework agreement with the Chinese bank CEXIM: CMA CGM and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM) signed a framework agreement on financing solutions for a total of up to $1 billion in the form of loans and/or export credit insurance. Those solutions would be available for the future vessels and containers the group may order in China. Those investments are essential to accompany the CMA CGM Group’s development strategy.
During this official visit, the CMA CGM Orfeo, a 10,000 TEU vessel symbolizing the commercial relations between France and China, was decorated in the Chinese colors and was berthing in front of the group’s headquarter.
“July 1 will be a milestone in our group’s history,” Saadé said. “The Chinese Prime Minister’s visit is a great recognition of the unique links our group has developed with China, a strategic country in the group’s development history. Those two agreements signature reinforces those links and offer new perspectives. We are proud of the honor and of the confidence that this visit demonstrates.”