The reporter for Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, cut straight to the chase: “You never plan to get out of the Chinese market, do you?” she asked.
She was addressing Jeffrey Lou, the president and chairman of Greater China at BASF, the German chemical giant, in a televised interview published on October 1, 2022. BASF had just started production at its newest site in China, with the promise to make its largest ever investment of €10 billion there by 2030 — all at a time when many Western companies are talking about “decoupling” from the Chinese market.
Jeffrey Lou speaking at a development conference hosted by Peking University's School of Materials Science and Technology, September 24, 2021. During the event, Lou was appointed to the school's Industrial Council. Credit: Peking University
Lou, who was born in China, responded in Mandarin and in the matter-of-fact business style that fits his advanced degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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At first glance, the recent raid on Capvision, a Shanghai consultancy, looks similar to the raids on foreign firms Mintz Group and Bain & Company. But there are reasons to separate Beijing's crackdown on Capvision. For starters, Capvision is Chinese and its shareholders and investors include a network of remarkably high profile and state-connected individuals and companies.
