Veolia Environment, a world leader in environmental services, is poised to expand its presence in China by targeting public transportation and energy services.

As the nation is facing an uphill battle against worsening environmental quality, the domestic market will become strategically important for the French group's key business segments besides water and waste treatment.

"I believe Veolia will make great achievements in managing public transportation in large cities in China in the next few years," said Henri Proglio, chairman and CEO of Veolia Environment.

The chairman said Veolia is in talks with the governments of large cities such as Shanghai and Beijing about possible partnerships.

"It (the process) seems to be faster than what we have expected," Proglio said.

"In big cities, you can find different groups able to build infrastructure, but they don't know how to manage and optimize it," Proglio said during a recent visit to China.

"The know-how of the group is to bundle all the different segments of the infrastructure and run it efficiently."

Connex, Veolia's transport division, is Europe's largest private operator of ground passenger transportation services. It contributes about 15 per cent to the group's annual sales revenue.

The other three divisions of Veolia are Veolia Water, for treating water resources; Onyx, for waste management; and Dalkia, which provides energy services.

He said Veolia will speed up its efforts in providing energy services to China.Running the heating network in Northeast China will be Veolia's primary target, as many places in that region are "very demanding on energy savings and efficiency," Proglio told China Daily.

Another area the group is keen to tap into is on site energy optimization to help big industrial companies save money and energy.

Dalkia provides low-energy illumination to the Oriental Pearl Radio and TV Tower in Shanghai through its public lighting and illumination subsidiary Citelum.

Commenting on Veolia's eight-year growth in China, the chairman said the group will continue to focus on water treatment, which makes up 70 per cent of Veolia's sales in China.

"Some new major projects will be realized by the end of this year and our business will grow significantly this year," Proglio said.

Antoine Frerot, Veolia Water's CEO, previously told China Daily the company expects to sign another four contracts in China this year.

Proglio said Shanghai is the most promising Chinese city, where Veolia's four business divisions will grow quickly.

Veolia Water now provides drinking water to Pudong, a rapidly developing district of Shanghai.

The waste management division, Onyx, operates the Shanghai Puxi Waste-to-Energy Incineration Plant, which handles 1,000 tons of waste per day.