Saint-Gobain bets on China's urbanization

China's undergoing new urbanization, which is estimated to move 20 million people to towns from rural areas every year, will bring about great business opportunities for companies involving in industries such as construction.

Compagnie de Saint-Gobain SA, a leading French habitat and construction company, is looking to benefit from the urbanization boom in the world's second-largest economy "by playing its expertise in the coming 20 years", said Javier Gimeno, general delegate of Saint-Gobain for the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, sales from China only account for about 2 percent of Saint-Gobain globally. Pierre-André de Chalendar, chairman and chief executive officer of Saint-Gobain Group, is confident the company's innovation strength will facilitate its exploration in China, especially when the country is paying more attention to environment protection.

On Friday, the French construction group witnessed the opening of an expansion to its Shanghai R&D center, part of its efforts to support the group's rapidly growing businesses in the Asia-Pacific region. The 8,300 square meter-size new building involves an investment of 7 million euros ($9.45 million).