On Sunday 16th January, our dear Member Xavier Richet, professor emeritus at Sorbonne Nouvelle University, passed away. Xavier Richet was an active member of OEET.
Over years Xavier Richet contributed to the activity of the Turin Centre on Emerging Economies by co-authoring many works with other OEET members. In 2012, with Giovanni Balcet and Wang Hua he authored “Geely: a trajectory of catching up and asset-seeking multinational growth”, International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, vol. 12, 2012, n. 4, pp. 360-375. With Xieshu Wang and Joel Ruet he authored in 2017 “One Belt One Road and the multi-lateral EU-China relations”, in Alessia Amighini (ed.) Belt and Road: A game changer in international relations? ISPI Report China and in 2019 “One Belt One Road and the reconfiguration of China-EU relations”, in Yuan Li, Markus Taube (eds.) How China's Silk Road Initiative is Changing the Global Economic Landscape, Routledge. With Xieshu Wang in 2019 he also authored “China and Globalization: Internationalization of Firms and Trade in Services”, Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 2, pp 3-22. Moreover he participated in workshops, seminars and conferences organized by OEET, like the 3rd OEET workshop in 2016 where he presented The One Belt One Road initiative and its impact on China-EU Relations, and, just in 2021, as an appreciated discussant for the OEET seminar by Alessia Amighini and presentation of the book "Money and Might Along the Belt and Road Initiative". Last he edited two OEET newsletters: The New Silk Road: objectives and presence of China in the post-Soviet space and, with Giovanni Balcet Le nuove multinazionali cinesi: strategie di inseguimento tecnologico e investimenti diretti asset-seeking. Il caso dell’acquisizione di Volvo da parte di Geely, both in 2015.
Here below the commemorations by Vittorio Valli and Giovanni Balcet.
I have known Xavier Richet from the beginning of the 1990s. Since then he has collaborated to several initiatives of EACES (the European Association for Comparative Economic Studies) and of OEET (the Turin Center on Emerging Economies), always bringing the flavor of his deep knowledge on emerging and developing economies, his great intellectual curiosity and his gentle personality. Professor emeritus of economics at the University Sorbonne nouvelle in Paris, he was visiting professor in several countries, including China, Vietnam, Algeria, Colombia, Russia and Bulgaria, and published extensively on Eastern European economies, China, India and other emerging countries, both on the fields of comparative economics and of industrial and international economics. His book “Economie des enterprises” had four editions and several translations; his numerous works on foreign direct investments, on China’s economy, the globalization of firms and the automobile industry were highly appreciated and extensively quoted in the world economic literature. But above all, he was a man of knowledge and a just man.
Vittorio Valli
Torino, January 18, 2022
Xavier was a great intellectual partner in several research projects, a tireless organizer and traveler, and a good friend of mine.
Together with Michel Schiray, Guilhem Fabre and Pierre Salama, he co-founded in 2011 the BRICs seminar, at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris, and he greatly contributed to its success. He has been also an active member of the Cemafi International network, based at Nice University. He was a much appreciated teacher.
His main areas of interest include industrial economics and policy, economic analysis of innovation, the development of industrial sectors in China (with special reference to the automotive sector), international monetary issues and in particular the internationalisation of the Chinese renminbi, and the challenges of the New Silk Roads in Eastern Europe. He developed a network of partnerships in universities and research institutions in several countries, including China and Hong Kong, India, Latina America, the Maghreb, Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
I remember his humour, generosity and humanity, we’ll miss his smile.
Giovanni Balcet
Torino, January 18, 2022
