French expat recounts his first-hand poverty lifting experience in China

Ludovic Weber, chief executive officer of the French Saint-Gobain Cooperation's Asia Pacific Region, watched Premier Li Keqiang's speech and found a lot of interesting, positive things about it .

In the speech, Premier Li mentioned the business environment in China, which is very positive for a global cooperation such as Saint-Gobain.

Li set a list of goals and how China can achieve them one by one in achievable steps. Also, the new policies and tax incentives to support foreign companies are all quite encouraging, Weber said.

Li also stressed the importance of solidifying poverty alleviation programs, which struck a chord with Weber.

Saint-Gobain has first-hand experience alleviating poverty in China. Last year, Weber and his family went to the Daliangshan region in Sichuan Province, and brought supplies to three local elementary schools and gave financial support to teachers.

Weber was struck by how happy the students were when they first met. Even though they were living in a less than ideal environment, their smiles were very heart-felt, he said.