Veolia eyes AI-driven growth in China

Veolia, a French transnational group focusing on the environment and resource management, is poised to leverage China's AI boom to scale up investment in innovative projects, its chief executive said, highlighting the country's rising global position as one of the most dynamic centers for green innovation.

"I don't see China only as just a market. I think China has probably become an engine for some specific innovations, which we can develop elsewhere," Estelle Brachlianoff, CEO of Veolia, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily during her recent trip to Beijing.

Compared with her last visit to China in 2023, Brachlianoff said she has seen an acceleration of innovation and technologies in the country, with Veolia's operations here using artificial intelligence technology to save resources and produce green energy.

"This country is moving so fast …I can testify to the AI takeoff in China," Brachlianoff said.

She gave the example of Shanghai's Pudong New Area where Veolia has applied generative AI to optimize the city's water distribution network and cut water leakage by about 10 percent.

Brachlianoff said Veolia already has hundreds of use cases involving generative AI in China, and she expects to see many more when she visits the country next time.

"The use cases need to be scaled up now," Brachlianoff said, adding that more investment is likely to be deployed in China for AI-related applications, as the group is strongly supportive of such projects in the country.

Such a quick adoption of innovation has made China important for Veolia, not only because of its gigantic market size but also for its rising role as an innovation engine that can drive the group's green technology advances across the world.

"Veolia's business in China is leading some of our most innovative projects," Brachlianoff said. "Everything we're doing in carbon capture and utilization can be very much copied elsewhere in the world once we've developed the various pilots here in China."

China's green technologies — from advanced batteries to clean energy generation — have also made remarkable progress, she said, as the country remains committed to its dual-carbon goals of peaking emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.

Looking ahead, Brachlianoff said she is confident that in the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), China will keep green development high on the agenda, creating more opportunities for Veolia in areas such as decarbonization and ecological restoration.

Calling China "a very key and important market" for Veolia, Brachlianoff said the country's green vision closely aligns with the company's GreenUp strategy, which focuses on decarbonization, depollution and resource regeneration.

"When I look at China's green development strategy, I see so much more we can do — for its cities, industries and people."

Last year, Veolia's solutions in China helped cut 496,160 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Meanwhile, a total of 68,517 tons of plastic were recycled via Veolia's operations in China.

Earlier this month, Veolia China signed a strategic cooperation agreement with a subsidiary of Shanghai International Port (Group) Co Ltd and Venex to build an end-to-end green methanol supply network. The partnership supports China's dual-carbon goals and aims to advance the port and shipping sector's low-carbon transition.

Brachlianoff also praised China's ongoing efforts to attract foreign investment and further open up its economy. "For us, the keyword is stability," she said. "We invest when the framework is clear for years. The other key factor is fair competition — letting the best win. That's exactly what happens in this country for the various sectors we participate in. "

"We've been in this country for over 30 years. We employ 8,000 people, we have over 450 projects, and will be in this country for really, really decades to come," she added.

Zhang Chenxu contributed to this story.