Interview: U.S. chemical upstart CEO: Global players need China presence

In a move that demonstrates commitment to one of his company's key markets, Mark Vergnano came to China less than two months after he became President and CEO of U.S. chemical startup The Chemours Company. X During his two-day stay in Shanghai and Beijing, he met with China employees, talked to business partners and visited Chemours' customers.

Regardless of increasing global concerns about China's economy amid weak macro data, a plunging stock market and the depreciation of the yuan currency, Vergnano didn't seem worried.

"In the short term, they (investors) might be disappointed, but that is because they are not in it for the long haul," Vergnano told Xinhua in an interview.

"If global companies are thinking of withdrawing from China, that is something I do not quite understand. But if they happen to be our competitors, we would not mind at all," he joked.

Chemours, a spin-off company that was formerly part of U.S. multinational DuPont's performance chemicals business, listed on the New York Stock Exchange on June 29. Vergnano, who previously worked for DuPont for 35 years, became its new company's chief executive officer.

"How can you consider yourself a global company without participating in the marketplace in China? It does not make sense to me if China is not part of a company's growth plans," he said.

China, Vergnano said, had been lifting up the world's economy for a while, and it might hurt some people in the short run, who got used to China's high growth rate, as it slows down.

There is no question that the economy is slowing down, but it has built a strong foundation over the years. China could expand by 7 percent this year and the rest of the world by 2 percent, around a third as much, Vergnano said, suggesting a bigger perspective.

"When you think about China with a long term view, and think about how the country has developed in the last 35 years, it's on the normal path of what development you'd see," he told Xinhua.

It is natural progression that an economy like China has to go through, he said. In the short term, people might be disappointed, but that's because they are not in here for a long haul.

The Chemours chief said he has a lot of faith in the Chinese economy for two reasons. China is a large economy with a huge population of consumers, and "if you can be a global player, no question you have to be here in China," said Vergnano.

Another reason is China's astute government, which he believed would do the right things to drive the economy where it needs to go. "I've been to China since the mid-1980s, and my impression is the government takes a long term view of the economy," he said.

Vergnano has been visiting China since mid-1980s, and has witnessed a sea of changes in China.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's gross domestic production (GDP) stood at 63.61 trillion yuan (10 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2014, and per capita GDP was 46,629 yuan.

These indicate remarkable progresses from 1980, when GDP was 455.2 billion yuan and per capita was 1,012 yuan. From 1980 to 2014, China's GDP expanded by an average rate of about 9.8 percent annually at comparable prices.

"What impressed me is that how quickly the economy has advanced in terms of basic goods to upgraded goods, to industry products to high-valued industry products," he said.

Chemours, with 37 manufacturing bases and approximately 8,000 employees globally, maintains a leading position in the global market on chemical products such as TiO2 and fluoroproducts. In 2014, its revenue amounted to 6.4 billion U.S. dollars.

Chemours won't maintain a leading position in the world without a significant presence in China, which Vergnano said could one day become the world's largest economy and the biggest consumer market.

With about 300 employees on the mainland, China now accounts for 10 percent of Chemours' revenue. Chemours had posted net sales of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter this year.

Vergnano said the company aimed to increase the percentage of revenue coming from China in the next two years, and hopefully even higher in the longer term.

"So Chemours will continue to invest in China. We look beyond investing in new facilities but also in people, ensuring we have the right people on the ground to support customers," he added. Endi