Heading to China
Discover the fifth stop on our 360th anniversary world tour!
Welcome to China, a new stop on our 360-anniversary world tour!
With over a billion Internet users in 2025, China now boasts a digital ecosystem unlike any other—transforming daily life both personally and professionally. For the construction sector, it is a powerful driver for strengthening customer relationships, but also for reducing environmental impact.
How can we leverage digital technology to make construction more sustainable?
Join climate expert François Gemenne to find out how Saint-Gobain is making the most of digital technology to enhance its business while contributing to develop ever more sustainable solutions.
MAKING CONSTRUCTION MORE SUSTAINABLE USING DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN 360 SECONDS
Since 2016, Saint-Gobain has undertaken an ambitious digital transformation in China. The Group has developed a one-of-a-kind integrated digital platform - fast, reliable, and customer-centric. This solution enables excellence in a demanding market while also reducing environmental impact.
How are digital technologies making construction smarter and more sustainable?
Hear what our local teams and customers have to say!
TO GO FURTHER
3 questions to... Ludovic Weber, CEO, Asia-Pacific Region - Saint-Gobain
Visit the “phygital” showroom at Saint-Gobain's regional headquarters!
Find out how to reduce a building's carbon footprint using digital technology
THROUGH THE LENS OF FRANÇOIS GEMENNE
After his trip to China, the climate expert shares his thoughts.
Inventing the future in China
The first thing that strikes visitors on arriving in Shanghai is the city's overwhelming sense of modernity. A technological innovation or engineering marvel can be found around every corner, from the best in energy transition to the worst in social control, from curved escalators to facial recognition. But it's when it comes to mobility that the contrast with France is most startling: the countless scooters are all electric, recharged by a simple plug in any urban parking lot, and the cars, electric too and by far the majority in traffic, are now connected devices, often made by electronics manufacturers rather than carmakers. Electric mobility has resulted in a surprisingly peaceful city, despite its 28 million inhabitants, with air quality that has improved spectacularly in recent years.
Above all, there's what visitors can't see: in the first quarter of 2025, China reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 2.6%, even as energy demand continued to grow. Many observers now believe that China may have reached its peak in greenhouse gas emissions, five years ahead of schedule. What's more, most of the rise in energy demand is now being absorbed by renewable energies, which are slowly but surely phasing coal out of China's energy mix.
In addition, the digital transformation of the construction sector is advancing apace, from order management to the optimization of heating systems. Not only does such digitization help to reduce the carbon footprint of the various steps in the construction process. It will also require the production of increasingly low-carbon electricity. Tomorrow's world will be less carbon-intensive and more electric: in many respects, China is showing us the way. And sustainable construction will logically be a key element in this process.
HONG KONG LIKE YOU’VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE
Did you know that the world's longest sea bridge is in China?
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is 55km long. A true engineering marvel, it’s built to withstand magnitude 8 earthquakes on the Richter scale and the region’s powerful typhoons.
To build it, our activities in construction chemicals provided a bridge deck waterproofing system known for its rapid installation and resilience in extreme weather conditions. Saint-Gobain also provided 160,000 m² of its durable Weber classic car parking floor system, chosen for its superior slip resistance and noise-dampening technology.
Inaugurated in 2018, this bridge was built to last 120 years, outliving most bridges by decades! A new benchmark for endurance and innovation!
SAINT-GOBAIN IN CHINA IN 3 KEY FACTS
1985
Year the Group first set up operations in China
6,000
Number of employees in the country
Integrated solutions
Gyproc (plaster solutions for insulation), Weber (mortar-based solution for building construction and renovation), GCP (specialty building materials), Sekurit (automotive glazing), Norton (abrasive solutions)…