Guo Guangchang: 30 Years, 4 Memorable Moments
Release time:2022-12-15
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Good evening, Fosuners!
I am delighted to join you at the Fosun’s 30th Anniversary ONE FOSUN Family Members’ Carnival today and I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fosun. I know our youngest Fosuners were born in the 2000s and many Fosuners are still in their twenties. In fact, when my friends and I founded Fosun, we were also in our twenties. We started Fosun in a single-storey house near Fudan University and now Fosun has become a global consumer group with businesses covering more than 30 countries and regions around the world. We have also expanded from an entrepreneurial team with only a few people at the beginning to more than 120,000 employees worldwide today. All of the Fosuners should be proud of Fosun’s achievements in the past 30 years. The journey was full of challenges as well as laughter and tears. I would like to thank those who have supported and helped Fosun along the way, it is your love that make us thrive; I would also like to express my appreciation to all friends who have given advice and encouragement to Fosun along the way, it is you who have helped Fosun to stay focus and be fearless; Last but not least, I appreciate all Fosuners. No matter when you joined Fosun, or maybe you have already left Fosun, we are a family. Thank you for your support to Fosun, and I hope that Fosun has brought warmth to you all.
Looking back on the past 30 years, there are many stories that have left strong impression on me, and I would like to take this opportunity to share some memorable moments with you. Thirty years ago, bicycles were basically the means of transportation for university students. We founded Fosun because when we were students at Fudan University, we biked to Hainan and Beijing together and during that trip, we really felt the changes brought about by the reform and opening up, and realized that business can bring great changes and improvement to society. At the beginning of our business, we were always on the frontline, we biked to school, to the office and to meet clients. I remember that it was raining heavily on the day that we finished our first consulting project, so we picked a restaurant nearby to celebrate. It was a fancy restaurant. Since water symbolizes wealth in the Chinese world, at that time, we felt that this was a blessing to us and we were full of confidence in the future. That is to say, we started Fosun by biking to the office and to meet clients. For many years after that, no matter whether we were engaged in medicine or real estate, we believe that we must adhere to the entrepreneurial spirit by getting involved and fighting on the frontline. This is also one of the strategies that we must adhere to, especially now we have more than 100 global partners, no matter what field or industry they are in, whether they are in the legal department or human resources department, they must have a deep understanding of the industry and get involved to create value. Fosun attaches great importance to the spirit of entrepreneurship because it is how we develop. As I always say, we must let the professionals who understand business to operate, and we must always keep learning and work hard to be 0.01 second faster than our competitors.
Later, in 2007, Fosun International was listed in Hong Kong, and we started to consider globalization. I remember that in 2015, the team and I were waiting for the acquisition to close at Club Med headquarters. In fact, the acquisition of Club Med is an important milestone in Fosun’s globalization history, and Club Med is our first brand with global significance. I believe the significance of Club Med and Fosun Tourism Group is far beyond resorts, it represents a new way of life for families. Recently, I was on a business trip overseas for more than three months and I have stayed at several Club Med resorts. It really made my day seeing adults enjoying their vacation and children smiling at every Club Med resort I have stayed at. With Club Med and Atlantis Sanya, we have opened up a whole new possibility for family vacation. As a private enterprise founded in Shanghai and developed in China, I am proud to say we have one of the best globalization capabilities. Now that the world is facing many challenges, Fosun’s globalization capabilities are especially valuable. I would also like to mention the three anti-epidemic treasures of Fosun: the first is Shede Spirits. Drinking wine, in moderation, has long been thought to have benefits to health. We helped Shede Spirits go global and spread Chinese wisdom to the world. The second is COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, COMIRNATY®. Currently, COMIRNATY® bivalent vaccines have already arrived in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. BioNTech, a Germany biotechnology company, chose to cooperate with Fosun to develop the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine because they recognize Fosun Pharma’s research and development capabilities and globalization strategy. The last is Azvudine, our collaboration with Genuine Biotech. Azvudine has already been widely used in the prevention and control of the epidemic in various places, contributing Fosun’s power to China’s fight against the epidemic. Through globalization, we work with our partners to bring warmth to more people. We cooperated with Kite Pharma to introduce CAR-T technology to China, bringing new hope to cancer patients and their families; Henlius, with its global research and development, helps people cure illnesses or relieve symptoms with the most advanced innovative drugs; we introduced Artesun®, artesunate for injection, to Africa to play our part in eliminating malaria. Globalization and innovation are very important to Fosun, and they are also the core growth engines that we will continue to adhere to.
The third moment is my encounters with rural doctors. The Rural Doctors Program is a project that Fosun Foundation has been running for five years. Five years ago, I visited a village clinic in Zizhou, Shaanxi for the first time and I met Zheng Zhuqian, a 67-year-old rural doctor at the time. In fact, rural doctors hold a special place in my heart. When I was a child, I got acute hepatitis in the countryside. Thankfully, a rural doctor treated me in time and I recovered. Later that year, I met Dr. Zheng once at the Rural Doctors Conference and he gifted me a pair of couplets written by himself. “We protect rural doctors, and rural doctors protect everyone.” I believe that it is not just a pair of couplets, but also the persistence of Fosuners. While developing business, we must also contribute to society with love and care. “Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society” are the original aspiration and corporate values that we have always adhered to.
There is another moment that I would like to share in particular. Whenever I am working in Shanghai and the banks of the Huangpu River are ablaze with lights at night, I would look out from the office to admire the view of the Bund and the BFC. I think it is the most gorgeous view of Shanghai. Also, whenever I am in New York for a business trip, I am always amazed by 28 Liberty and how beauty transcends time and borders. I hope that when people see BFC a century later, they recognize its beauty from the bottom of their hearts. I believe that Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival will still be held at that time. Fosun, including Lanvin, Wolford, St. John, Sergio Rossi of our Lanvin Group, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. in the Premier League, strive to create a more beautiful world. We must refine our products to the best, provide the best service, and offer the best user experience. We must insist on doing the right things, difficult things, and things that takes time to develop.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fosun and we will remain our original aspiration. We hope to create a better world and to create happier lives for families worldwide, so that more people can live till the age of 121 with health, happiness and wealth. At thirty, Fosun and all Fosuners promise to uphold the original aspiration of “Contribution to Society” and forge ahead. We also hope that Fosuners will continue to create personal breakthroughs in the future, have the courage to try, and expand your horizons so as to create breakthroughs for Fosun. Fosun family always welcomes Fosuners with ideas, capabilities, and ambitions to forge ahead and shoulder more responsibilities. I strongly believe that more opportunities are waiting for us and the world, China and Fosun will all be better in the next 30 years. Thank you all!
Guo Guangchang
15 December 2022
I am delighted to join you at the Fosun’s 30th Anniversary ONE FOSUN Family Members’ Carnival today and I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fosun. I know our youngest Fosuners were born in the 2000s and many Fosuners are still in their twenties. In fact, when my friends and I founded Fosun, we were also in our twenties. We started Fosun in a single-storey house near Fudan University and now Fosun has become a global consumer group with businesses covering more than 30 countries and regions around the world. We have also expanded from an entrepreneurial team with only a few people at the beginning to more than 120,000 employees worldwide today. All of the Fosuners should be proud of Fosun’s achievements in the past 30 years. The journey was full of challenges as well as laughter and tears. I would like to thank those who have supported and helped Fosun along the way, it is your love that make us thrive; I would also like to express my appreciation to all friends who have given advice and encouragement to Fosun along the way, it is you who have helped Fosun to stay focus and be fearless; Last but not least, I appreciate all Fosuners. No matter when you joined Fosun, or maybe you have already left Fosun, we are a family. Thank you for your support to Fosun, and I hope that Fosun has brought warmth to you all.
Looking back on the past 30 years, there are many stories that have left strong impression on me, and I would like to take this opportunity to share some memorable moments with you. Thirty years ago, bicycles were basically the means of transportation for university students. We founded Fosun because when we were students at Fudan University, we biked to Hainan and Beijing together and during that trip, we really felt the changes brought about by the reform and opening up, and realized that business can bring great changes and improvement to society. At the beginning of our business, we were always on the frontline, we biked to school, to the office and to meet clients. I remember that it was raining heavily on the day that we finished our first consulting project, so we picked a restaurant nearby to celebrate. It was a fancy restaurant. Since water symbolizes wealth in the Chinese world, at that time, we felt that this was a blessing to us and we were full of confidence in the future. That is to say, we started Fosun by biking to the office and to meet clients. For many years after that, no matter whether we were engaged in medicine or real estate, we believe that we must adhere to the entrepreneurial spirit by getting involved and fighting on the frontline. This is also one of the strategies that we must adhere to, especially now we have more than 100 global partners, no matter what field or industry they are in, whether they are in the legal department or human resources department, they must have a deep understanding of the industry and get involved to create value. Fosun attaches great importance to the spirit of entrepreneurship because it is how we develop. As I always say, we must let the professionals who understand business to operate, and we must always keep learning and work hard to be 0.01 second faster than our competitors.
Later, in 2007, Fosun International was listed in Hong Kong, and we started to consider globalization. I remember that in 2015, the team and I were waiting for the acquisition to close at Club Med headquarters. In fact, the acquisition of Club Med is an important milestone in Fosun’s globalization history, and Club Med is our first brand with global significance. I believe the significance of Club Med and Fosun Tourism Group is far beyond resorts, it represents a new way of life for families. Recently, I was on a business trip overseas for more than three months and I have stayed at several Club Med resorts. It really made my day seeing adults enjoying their vacation and children smiling at every Club Med resort I have stayed at. With Club Med and Atlantis Sanya, we have opened up a whole new possibility for family vacation. As a private enterprise founded in Shanghai and developed in China, I am proud to say we have one of the best globalization capabilities. Now that the world is facing many challenges, Fosun’s globalization capabilities are especially valuable. I would also like to mention the three anti-epidemic treasures of Fosun: the first is Shede Spirits. Drinking wine, in moderation, has long been thought to have benefits to health. We helped Shede Spirits go global and spread Chinese wisdom to the world. The second is COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, COMIRNATY®. Currently, COMIRNATY® bivalent vaccines have already arrived in Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. BioNTech, a Germany biotechnology company, chose to cooperate with Fosun to develop the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine because they recognize Fosun Pharma’s research and development capabilities and globalization strategy. The last is Azvudine, our collaboration with Genuine Biotech. Azvudine has already been widely used in the prevention and control of the epidemic in various places, contributing Fosun’s power to China’s fight against the epidemic. Through globalization, we work with our partners to bring warmth to more people. We cooperated with Kite Pharma to introduce CAR-T technology to China, bringing new hope to cancer patients and their families; Henlius, with its global research and development, helps people cure illnesses or relieve symptoms with the most advanced innovative drugs; we introduced Artesun®, artesunate for injection, to Africa to play our part in eliminating malaria. Globalization and innovation are very important to Fosun, and they are also the core growth engines that we will continue to adhere to.
The third moment is my encounters with rural doctors. The Rural Doctors Program is a project that Fosun Foundation has been running for five years. Five years ago, I visited a village clinic in Zizhou, Shaanxi for the first time and I met Zheng Zhuqian, a 67-year-old rural doctor at the time. In fact, rural doctors hold a special place in my heart. When I was a child, I got acute hepatitis in the countryside. Thankfully, a rural doctor treated me in time and I recovered. Later that year, I met Dr. Zheng once at the Rural Doctors Conference and he gifted me a pair of couplets written by himself. “We protect rural doctors, and rural doctors protect everyone.” I believe that it is not just a pair of couplets, but also the persistence of Fosuners. While developing business, we must also contribute to society with love and care. “Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society” are the original aspiration and corporate values that we have always adhered to.
There is another moment that I would like to share in particular. Whenever I am working in Shanghai and the banks of the Huangpu River are ablaze with lights at night, I would look out from the office to admire the view of the Bund and the BFC. I think it is the most gorgeous view of Shanghai. Also, whenever I am in New York for a business trip, I am always amazed by 28 Liberty and how beauty transcends time and borders. I hope that when people see BFC a century later, they recognize its beauty from the bottom of their hearts. I believe that Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival will still be held at that time. Fosun, including Lanvin, Wolford, St. John, Sergio Rossi of our Lanvin Group, as well as Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. in the Premier League, strive to create a more beautiful world. We must refine our products to the best, provide the best service, and offer the best user experience. We must insist on doing the right things, difficult things, and things that takes time to develop.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Fosun and we will remain our original aspiration. We hope to create a better world and to create happier lives for families worldwide, so that more people can live till the age of 121 with health, happiness and wealth. At thirty, Fosun and all Fosuners promise to uphold the original aspiration of “Contribution to Society” and forge ahead. We also hope that Fosuners will continue to create personal breakthroughs in the future, have the courage to try, and expand your horizons so as to create breakthroughs for Fosun. Fosun family always welcomes Fosuners with ideas, capabilities, and ambitions to forge ahead and shoulder more responsibilities. I strongly believe that more opportunities are waiting for us and the world, China and Fosun will all be better in the next 30 years. Thank you all!
Guo Guangchang
15 December 2022
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