Frenchman Cyril Ruiz-Moise is not only the general manager of Zhanjiang Saint-Hua Glass Containers Co, commonly named SGD Asia Pacific, but also a citizen of the city.

"In Zhanjiang, I do feel at home," Ruiz-Moise said.

The 39-year-old spent eight years in China during his 15-year career with SGD. Apart from two or three short visits back to France each year, Ruiz-Moise spent most of his time in Zhanjiang and Guangzhou, where he has his residences. Last year, he celebrated Christmas in Zhanjiang with his Chinese colleagues.

SGD Group is a leading global producer of glass bottles for the pharmaceutical and perfume-cosmetics industries. SGD Asia Pacific was founded in 1998 in Zhanjiang and is part of the group.

SGD used to own a 70 percent stake in the company, with the remaining 30 percent owned by the city government.

In 2006 SGD bought the 30 percent stake and became a wholly owned foreign company.

"Despite the stake change, I didn't feel any difference in our relationship with the local government. They are still very supportive and respect our plan," said Ruiz-Moise.

The company regularly exchanged ideas with government officials and pushed forward with the investment plan.

"The Zhanjiang government is far-sighted and they always checked with us about our future plans," said Ruiz-Moise. The company's global CEO is due to have a meeting with the mayor soon about their investment and expansion plans for the coming five years, he added.

With an increasingly open economy, Zhanjiang offers promising market prospects, Mayor Wang Zhongbing said during a previous meeting with Francois Portenseigne, director of strategic planning and analysis at Paris-based SGD Group.

Wang said the city government would continue to support the company. Portenseigne pledged further innovations in production and said the company would upgrade its product mix to strengthen business in Zhanjiang.

The company's strategy, Ruiz-Moise said, was quite clear - simply work with industry leaders. SGD Asia Pacific worked with almost all the top companies in the cosmetic and pharmacy industries at home and abroad including L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, Fresenius KB, Litai, Leung Kai Fook, and Haw Par.

"And our priorities are safety, quality, sustainability and profitability always," he added.

Ruiz-Moise said China's economic slowdown would not influence the company's business as the pharmacy and cosmetics industries are expected to maintain a rapid growth rate.

China's economic growth dipped to 7.4 percent in the first quarter, which increased the risk that the country could miss this year's economic growth target of 7.5 percent.

SGD Asia Pacific's turnover accounted for 10 percent of the SGD's global business but the proportion is expected to grow in the coming years.

"We've achieved average annual growth of 20 percent in the past eight years and we are confident we will maintain such a rate in the coming years," Ruiz-Moise said.

In 2010, SGD Asia Pacific's turnover was 100 million yuan, and the figure is set to double in 2015 and triple in 2019, according to Ruiz-Moise.

The company's EBITDA - earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a major financial indicator - is expected to rise to 20 percent by 2020, he added.

"We not only want to earn money but also would like to be a good corporate citizen," said Ruiz-Moise.

In the past 10 years, the company has used water-based paint for the words on its bottles. The paint is more expensive than oil-based paint but it is more environmentally friendly.

"We will make every effort to improve our criteria in protecting the environment and improve energy efficiency," Ruiz-Moise said.