Generale Des Eaux, a company under the giant international group of Vivendi, in France, has purchased 50 percent of shares of the Pudong branch of the Shanghai Running Water Company.
An agreement to this effect was signed in Shanghai Wednesday, making the company the first Sino-foreign joint venture in the running water industry in China.
The Sino-French joint venture is allowed to make, distribute and sell running water for domestic use.
In China, the water supply industry has been under state monopoly since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. Since the country entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), foreign investors have showed great interest in the opening-up of public utilities to international capital.
The French company won the bid to share a stake in the Chinese running water company, beating the other competitors from France, Italy, the United States, and Britain.
The government has appointed an independent director to the board of directors of the new joint venture, to ensure the interests of the government and the public, according to sources.
The new company has promised to abide by the unitary water prices set by the government.
The company is responsible for supplying water to the urban area of Pudong New District, covering an area of 319 square kilometers. and a population of 1.71 million.
In the past, the French firm has invested in factories in Tianjin and Chengdu cities, which only produce drinking water.
(People's Daily May 23, 2002)
