Cyril Ruiz-Moise (left) demonstrates a bottle from the assembly line with co-workers as if holding a relay torch. Photos provided to China Daily

A Frenchman in a coastal Chinese city has combined his zeal for work with passion for life, writes Raymond Zhou.

Cyril Ruiz-Moise spent a lot of time on a boat when he was a child. He developed a love of the sea and boating.

"It wasn't really a hobby but more a way of life in my family," he says.

Now, at age 40, he is still close to the sea. He works in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, and every morning he looks out to the sea from his window.

Boating is not as big in China as it is in many other places, but the government is promoting it, he says, and he is a pioneer.

"I wonder what kind of boats people will put in the new leisure harbor near my home," he says. "One day, I could put mine there to reconnect with my passion."

Another passion he displays in abundance is for work.

Ruiz-Moise is the general manager of SGD Asia Pacific, a maker of pharmacy and cosmetics bottles. It's the Chinese subsidiary of a French company whose clients include L'Oreal, Estee Lauder and the like.

The operation in Zhanjiang, which opened in 1998, has around 1,000 employees and a daily capacity to produce 1.2 million bottles and process 100,000 bottles for decoration.

Ruiz-Moise's office is near the plant. The clanking of glass bottles produces deafening noise, so workers must wear earplugs.

Work safety and environmental protection are two areas that are constantly on his mind, he says. The Chinese government has taken a strong position, and SGD Asia Pacific wants to go one step further - taking extra measures beyond regulation.

"Every year, we are investing a lot into implementing devices to control, treat and limit rejections, such as wastewater ... there are treatment stations around the plant, and we need to monitor all kinds of influences, such as smoke and noise."