China coming out of Expo a very positive image, says GE's CEO

BRUSSELS - The ongoing World Expo in Shanghai is going to help China build a very positive image in the world, just like the Beijing Olympics, Ferdinando Beccalli-Falco, CEO of GE International, a global infrastructure, finance and media company, said Monday.

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In an interview with Xinhua, Beccalli-Falco said that China is emerging not only as an industrial country, but also as a cultural country, after these two major international events.

Speaking before attending a panel on environmental protection as part of the World Economic Forum to be held here later Monday, he stressed that his company "focused very much on environmental protection," and have had very fruitful cooperation with China in this respect.

GE "has a tremendous level of relationship with the Chinese government, both the central as well as regional governments," he said.

"We have to work in stiff cooperation with the governments to establish a framework, into which the private companies can cooperate, and create public-private partnerships that are aimed at the resolution of this kind of issue."

He said his company has taken a lot of actions on environmental protection. For instance, it doubled its research and development money, it is selling a considerable amount of eco-friendly equipment, it has decreased its carbon dioxide emissions, and last but not least it is also very much concerned about water.

Beccalli-Falco rejected the saying that the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen was a failure, saying its major significance lies in that it sensitized at large the public opinion around the environmental issues, and the topic of environmental protection.

GE International is "very very focused on environmental protection," he declared.