On 30 March, Fosun International announced its 2024 annual results. In 2024, the Group’s total revenue reached RMB192.14 billion; industrial operation profit reached RMB4.9 billion; its four core subsidiaries contributed more than 70% of the total revenue.

At the results presentation, Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International Limited, announced that “(Fosun) aims to double our industrial operation profit from RMB4.9 billion this year (approximately RMB5.0 billion) to approximately RMB10.0 billion in the next five years.”

Growing from RMB4.9 billion to RMB10.0 billion is by no means a simple “small goal”. Compared with the figures disclosed in the annual results announcement, the “strategic advancements and exits” repeatedly mentioned by management in recent years seem to be sending out different signals, and one cannot help but ask, what changes have taken place in Fosun?

Divested assets exceeding RMB 80 billion to achieve a win-win outcome

At the 25th Annual Conference of Yabuli China Entrepreneurs Forum 2025 in February this year, Guo Guangchang said, “We have proactively divested from several non-core assets in China and abroad. After crunching the numbers, I found that we have actively divested assets worth over RMB80.0 billion.”

However, Fosun’s exits are not fire sales of assets. Take the sale of HAL, a German private bank, as an example. With a history of nearly 230 years, HAL is one of the few independent, fully licensed banks in the Germany–Austria–Switzerland region, offering private and corporate banking, investment banking, and asset management services across both liquid and illiquid assets.During Fosun’s eight-year ownership, HAL’s assets under management increased nearly sevenfold, while its profits grew fifteenfold. Since investing in HAL in 2016 until its sale, Fosun achieved an internal rate of return of nearly 14%. Additionally, Fosun retained HAL’s asset servicing business, which manages nearly EUR200 billion in assets.

“One thing I am very proud of is that when we exited, we not only managed to sell the company, but did so successfully, creating a win-win situation for us and our partners.” The contribution of Fosun’s industrial operational capabilities in achieving this win-win situation during exits cannot be overlooked. “The reason we sold successfully is that we did not just invest in a company. We nurtured each company like our own child. We consistently invested various resources over the years and gradually developed valuable companies.”

Pursuing Advancements with a Focus on Core Advantageous Industries

If we look closely, it is evident that Fosun’s “exits” in the past two years are largely a reflection of its commitment to the core business-focused strategy.

After more than 30 years of development, Fosun has become a global innovation-driven consumer group with profound industrial operational capabilities and a clear understanding of its competitive advantages. Most of the projects that Fosun has divested from are asset-heavy, non-advantageous projects. Meanwhile, it has been constantly expanding and strengthening its presence in family-focused industries with competitive advantages, such as health, biopharmaceuticals, tourism and culture, and insurance.

In the biopharmaceutical business, Fosun increased its stake in Fosun Kairos, a CAR-T cell therapy platform, to 100% in 2024. This move significantly enhanced Fosun’s capacity for source innovation in biopharmaceuticals. In the tourism and culture business, it officially launched the ULTRAMED Hainan project in Sanya. Additionally, Fosun’s efforts in promoting the privatization of FTG allows FTG to accelerate development with greater flexibility.

In terms of global expansion, Fosun has been leveraging its advantageous industries and products to tap into emerging markets. Henlius established a strategic collaboration with AL-TIRYAQ AL-KHALAWI Medical Company (SVAX) in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, Hainan Mining successfully acquired oil interests in Oman;

In terms of innovation, Fosun is particularly committed. In 2024, Fosun’s total investment in technology innovation reached RMB6.9 billion. It has established more than 20 global technology innovation centers; Fosun Pharma’s R&D investment reached RMB5.55 billion. In the field of AI applications, Fosun Pharma launched the PharmAID decision intelligence platform to optimize the innovative R&D process and improve efficiency.

Leveraging Operational Capabilities for Asset Reallocation During “Strategic Advancements and Exits”

From this, we can see that Fosun is divesting from asset-heavy, non-core projects, while pursuing advancements in innovative products and industries centered around advantageous industries that offer immense potential and vast opportunities.

Moreover, for Fosun, “advancement” does not imply investing heavily. The operational capabilities accumulated over 30 years allow Fosun to explore many asset-light operations.

This also reflects the goal of Fosun’s “strategic advancements and exits”. “Advancements and exits involve the reallocation of assets. We need to allocate more capital to innovation, further divesting asset-heavy projects,” Guo Guangchang said at the results presentation. Through advancements and exits, Fosun has completed the reallocation of assets, concentrating resources on industries where it has already established advantages, thereby achieving greater and better development.