Research on High-Value-Added Services
Created in 2005, the Franco-Chinese Center for Research on High-Value-Added Services promotes exchanges between French experts in the service sector and scholars and business leaders from the Tianjin municipality. Having close ties with French businessmen working in Tianjin and other major Chinese cities is vital to the program’s development.
The center’s creation is the fruit of three years of cooperative work between the FMSH, the Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences, and the Tianjin Business School, and in particular with Professor Sun Yu and President Wan Xinping. Representing the French side is François Gipouloux of the EHESS’s Research Center on Contemporary China.
New Methods in Management and Innovation
Developing the advanced services sector in major world cities enables exchanging new methods in management and innovation. In this new context, China is more than just the world’s factory. Since WTO agreements opened up its service sector, China has become an increasingly important center for services.
Asia’s production systems are heavily concentrated in one manufacturing zone – China’s coastal regions – but also around certain hubs (Hong Kong, Singapore, tomorrow possibly Shanghai) where there is a concentration of high-value-added services. This facilitates international sub-contracting, business intermediation, logistics, and financial activity.
What role do endogenous factors play in how these major metropolitan centers perform? What is the role of local actors? How do exchanges play out between local, provincial, and the central state’s legislative and regulatory guidelines?
Conferences
The first conference on these topics took place in Tianjin in 2005, with a second conference following in Paris in November 2007. The latter brought together academics, business leaders from the service sector, and high-ranking officials.
The following four areas were examined:
• perspectives on the history of Tianjin municipality
• city planning and development
• the service sector’s contribution to economic development
• business and urban development
Scientific coordinator: Annie Bergeret Curien
