World CEOs optimistic about China's economic outlook

Francois Tardif, President of Faurecia China

We highly appreciate the quick action and endeavor that the Chinese government has taken against the novel coronavirus epidemic, as well as the effective measures to support multinational companies resume operation amid the difficult period.

As we speak, all our plants in China have restarted their activities, except those in Hubei, and have resumed production whenever required by our customers. Putting employees' health and safety as our number one priority, we have rolled out a series of precautionary measures to guarantee a safe working environment. We are also watching very carefully the restart of our supply chain, identifying and implementing solutions wherever required. For the export activities which are relatively limited in our business, we have as well taken all required actions in order to avoid any disruption in our supplies to customers outside China and are carefully monitoring these situations. Besides, we are also making joint efforts with our community to defeat the epidemic. In the past weeks, we have made two batches of donations of medical supplies to hospitals in Hubei province to support the frontline medical staff.

China is the world's largest automotive market with huge potential and “China Priority” is the strategy that we will always uphold. The epidemic will temporarily impact the economic activities in China, including the automotive industry. However, we expect the potential economic blow brought by the production suspension to be limited to a short-term impact – quarterly or half yearly – with rapid recovery. Policies of stabilizing consumption for traditional commodities like automobiles and subsidies by the government are believed to exert positive impact and are positive for us. Our long-term commitment to the China market is not affected and we have full confidence in overcoming the difficulties together with our OEM customers and business partners.