Guo Guangchang: Fosun Firmly Advances its Globalization Strategy

HONG KONG, July 23, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "In the future, Fosun will continue to firmly advance its globalization strategy, transforming its globalization capability into sustained profit growth." Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, said at the 2024 Fosun Semi-Annual Working Meeting on 20 July 2024. "Fosun's globalization is not a strategy which commences today, but has been going on for a very long period of time. We have become one of the few Chinese enterprises rooted in China with the capability to operate globally, that we are particularly proud of it."

Fosun has developed along the path of globalization for nearly 17 years. Fosun International started its globalization journey in 2007 when it was listed in Hong Kong.  In the following decade, Fosun seized opportunities, continuously allocated global high-quality assets, expanded its diversified businesses, strengthened its industrial chain, and gradually built a global industrial ecosystem in line with its development logic. Today, Fosun has a profound business presence in more than 35 countries and regions around the world. In 2023, Fosun's overseas revenue reached RMB89.2 billion, accounting for 45% of its total revenue, with a 10-year compound annual growth rate of 55%.

With Fosun's businesses spread across the globe, how can it further integrate different industries and resources in various countries and regions, enhance the global operation capabilities of its member companies, and tap into potential values?

Guo Guangchang believes that the most important thing is to transform globalization capabilities into dividends and profit growth. "The extent of global layout and globalization capability differ with our member companies and business units. We would like to see each business doing equally well. Besides the conventional overseas markets, it is hoped that competency would also be developed in the Middle East, Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa."

Club Med, the French-born global "premium all-inclusive" holiday resort brand officially joined Fosun in 2015. Guo Guangchang said Fosun's successful acquisition of Club Med is an important milestone to the Group's globalization. With nearly ten years of profound operation through continuous development of the global market, Club Med has now become one of the most important sources of revenue and profit for its parent company Fosun Tourism Group.

After years of development, the gene of globalization has been deeply rooted in all of Fosun's business segments. Fosun Pharma is one of the earliest representatives of Fosun's member companies to "go global".  As early as 2007, Fosun Pharma entered the African market as a leading developer and manufacturer of antimalarial drugs. Today, its sales network covers more than 30 African countries and regions. Empowered by Fosun under the global ecosystem, Fosun Pharma's world-engaging integrated innovative model is maturing progressively.

In June this year, Fosun Pharma announced its plan to privatise its subsidiary Shanghai Henlius. As an outstanding representative of domestically developed innovative drugs, Shanghai Henlius has developed a number of innovative drugs such as HANQUYOU and HANSIZHUANG, and its capabilities of manufacturing and commercializing self-developed innovative drugs to meet the needs of patients in different regions have gained high market recognition. For instance, HLX02 (trastuzumab, trade name: HANQUYOU in China, HERCESSI™ in the U.S. and Zercepac® in Europe) is the first "China-made" monoclonal biosimilar approved in China, European Union, and U.S. and was approved to be marketed in more than 40 countries and regions around the world. In 2023, Shanghai Henlius became the first profit-making Hong Kong-listed "18A" biopharmaceutical company, achieving annual net profit of RMB546 million.

"Globalization must also be pursued by our overseas companies, Fidelidade is doing very good in this aspect." At the meeting on 20 July, Guo Guangchang included Fidelidade as one of the "honor companies" and encouraged more Fosun overseas member companies to expand their global businesses. Data shows that the global operation capability of Fidelidade remarkably enhanced after it has joined Fosun. Besides maintaining its leadership in Portugal, Fidelidade's premium percentage in overseas markets also increased from 6% in 2017 to 33% in 2023. With the steady expansion of its business scale, Fidelidade has continuously improved its profitability, achieving a net profit of EUR180 million in 2023.

In response to repeated appeals for deglobalization recent years, Guo Guangchang said: "The main trend of opening up integration of globalization will remain unchanged in the long term, we believe Fosun has been persistently in doing the right thing and will continue to do so."