'New development stage' embraced by multinational firms

A1: Driven by new technologies and the dual circulation, the "new development stage" features with innovative development, coordinated development, green development, open development and shared development. For Schneider Electric, the "new development stage" will empower us to better leverage our advantages in digital and sustainability and help Chinese industries to upgrade. Schneider Electric's mission is to be the digital partner of Chinese users for efficiency and sustainable development – our expertise and mission are highly aligned with China's targets in the new stage, especially in innovative and green development. In future, we will continue to enhance our strength in R&D in China and co-innovate with local partners, especially in digital capabilities and green technologies, to help Chinese customers transform. Meanwhile, Schneider Electric has rich experience in sustainability that we will continue to bring to China to help Chinese users embark on the green journey.

A2: China is the engine for global economic recovery and growth. Being the second-largest market and one of the four R&D bases of Schneider Electric in the world, China also inspires us to keep innovating. Schneider Electric has been rooted in and growing with China for long time. As the global leader of digital transformation in energy management and automation, Schneider Electric has been committed to helping Chinese industries achieve high efficiency and sustainable development with our technology and expertise.

At the dawn of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), Schneider Electric is fully confident about the China's development, and we attach high importance to the national agendas on dual circulation, innovation, carbon neutrality, higher level of opening to the outside world and so on. We believe Chinese market will burst out with vigorous growth vitality with the 14th five-year plan. Schneider Electric is eager to give full play with our advantages in technology and experience under the guidance of the 14th five-year plan, and continuously strengthen our local capabilities including innovation, digitization and sustainability, so as to help Chinese key industries continue to improve the efficiency and sustainability, and help China achieve the grand goal of 2060 carbon neutrality.

A3: We are glad to see China's moving upfront with technology development. With the emerging high-tech industries in the late decades, China is rapidly moving itself to the upstream of the global supply chain. China's recent proposal to achieve high-quality development specially emphasized efficiency and sustainability, which are also in Schneider Electric's mission, commitments and expertise.

Since entering the Chinese market, Schneider Electric has committed to operating as a local company and R&D has been an important part of our local capability. Over the past several years, the annual growth rate of Schneider Electric's R&D investment in China has stayed over 15 percent, and now China has become one of our four R&D bases around the world. I'm very proud that our Chinese R&D team has entered the new era of "China for China, China for Global" – we stand in China to meet local needs while conducting key global R&D projects. We've also nurtured a batch of world-class Chinese talents that keep bringing Chinese wisdom to the world.

A4: China is the engine of global development, not only in economy but also in sustainability. The world needs Chinese wisdom and experiences in various aspects. The new opening-up initiatives fully demonstrate China's inclusiveness and encourage us to further develop in China with stronger confidence. Schneider Electric is committed to operating as a local company, the open-up will not only benefit us in bringing more technologies and investment to China but will also support us to bring technologies and expertise to the global market.

In 2020, Schneider Electric had increased R&D investment in Xiamen, Xi'an, and Beijing, and had launched several digital and green production lines in our producing bases. With the new opening-up initiatives, we see more opportunities to co-work and innovate with our Chinese partners and win the favor of the market together.

A5: We are glad to see China's carbon neutrality commitment has brought positive impacts on various aspects in China and in global. At Schneider Electric, we echo and support China's 2060 carbon neutrality goal by continuing to accelerate the digital transformation for all industries. In essential, carbon emission is an energy efficiency issue. We believe the ultimate solution is to fully empower the whole life cycle of energy with digital technologies and improve efficiency in the process, especially in high emission industries such as power and grid, manufacturing, buildings, steel and petrochemical. With our digital capabilities, Schneider Electric can seamlessly combine energy management with automation process to maximize energy efficiency in all industries.

We will help China to take systematic approach to manage and improve the energy efficiency in the process of energy production, transition and consumption, in which three mega trends towards the future are our key focuses: decarbonization, electrification, and digital.

To help China achieve the target, we support decarbonization by fundamentally reform the energy structure and increase the portion of clean energy. Second, since electricity is the only decarbonized energy that suitable for digital management, we strongly promote the use of electricity and improve efficiency in grid and all energy-consumption industries. As said, digital technology can heavily improve energy efficiency throughout its whole life cycle, electrification plus digital will create a huge room for emission reduction. For most companies, digital is the most powerful and efficient way to realize carbon neutrality and sustainability.