Chinese industries are doubling down on new-age technologies to increase production on factory assembly lines, while also trying to cut their carbon footprint. French multinational Schneider Electric is one of the companies they are turning to in order to spearhead these changes.

The company specializes in digital automation and energy management, which Schneider believes is the future of sustainable global trade. Its engineers say the sustainability of big business hinges on efficient operating systems.

The company's Global Marketing VP Christophe Melle says technologies available today are industry game-changers.

"Most of the technology is already available today, it's just a question of deploying it," Melle tells CGTN. "We want to make the world more sustainable. That comes with decarbonization. A good way is to use more renewables. This is where we're helping customers, in industry or building.

"When you have the power, you want to make it more efficient. That's where digitization comes into play. That's how you make it more sustainable."

Chinese Premier Li Qiang was expected to visit the tech giant's headquarters near Paris on Wednesday. In China, new and existing companies are moving to integrated systems to build a competitive edge and balance the bottom-line with environmental objectives.

Melle says most big industries in the East are looking at short-term solutions to reduce energy consumption but are preparing for the future by reducing their carbon impact.

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Schneider assists by overhauling a client's software and digital drives to its streamline operations. This so-called 'universal software' works on any factory floor, even with older-generation equipment models. The company also has a fleet of robots and other automated machinery to improve clients' productivity.


Schneider executives say demands from consumers are forcing businesses to consider digitization. 

Among the benefits of digital transformation is generating faster, simpler and smarter processes. For big industries this means getting rid of time-consuming manual data entry, and eliminating inefficiencies in the assembly line and the potential for human error.

As more Chinese businesses join this era of sophisticated industrial technologies, China has become Schneider's second largest market globally. Melle believes there are overwhelming benefits to Chinese companies when making the switch.

"It helps them to be more flexible, to bring the connection of existing equipment to the next level and make them smarter," he says. "The third one helps you to use new energy sources like solar to make the factory more efficient and more sustainable."

The company hopes Li's visit will deepen collaboration between the French multinational and local Chinese vendors, as it bids to digitize industries faster, making them more efficient and sustainable.

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