The Standard Chartered China Summit 2024, hosted by Standard Chartered, was held on 10 April  at the Peninsula Shanghai. Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman of Fosun International, attended the summit and participated in the Fireside Chat Session, where he shared insights on innovation and disruption in a new pattern of global economic development, drawing from Fosun’s extensive practical experience.

“Fosun resolutely adheres to the globalization strategy. The core of our strategy is to be rooted in China while pursuing global development. By leveraging the twin drivers of China and the world, we actively integrate into the new development landscape and make contributions as a company,” Wang Qunbin said. He also expressed that Fosun will continue to focus on the family consumption industries such as "Health, Happiness, and Wealth," and promote globalization through customer-centric innovative products and brands.

Global resource deployment with imports and exports

With the changing external environment and increasingly fierce competition, Chinese companies are actively seeking ways to enhance product and business competitiveness at the international level. Wang Qunbin shared his thoughts on this matter during the exchange.

Wang Qunbin shared that Fosun’s globalization strategy is not simply about helping Chinese companies expand overseas or facilitating the entry of foreign companies into China. It is about developing capabilities to deploy global resources. “For example, in the biopharmaceutical sector, on one hand, we introduce technologies like CAR-T, which is used to cure tumors. We also introduced the da Vinci Surgical System, which has now been localized in China. At the same time, we promote patented products from China to the global market. For instance, our PD-1 (biopharmaceutical innovative drug) was launched in China last year, in the European Union this year, and will be launched in the United States in the future. Moreover, artesunate for the treatment of malaria has generated significant sales in Africa.”

The recently disclosed financial results for the full year of 2023 show that as a globalized company rooted in China, Fosun has established profound business presence in over 35 countries and regions worldwide with overseas revenue reaching RMB89.2 billion in 2023, accounting for 45% of the total revenue and achieving a 10-year compound annual growth rate of 55%.

In addition to the Health segment, Fosun has been accelerating its globalization efforts in the Happiness and Wealth segments. Currently, Fosun Tourism Group’s (FTG) subsidiary, Club Med, operates 68 resorts in more than 40 countries and regions across six continents. In 2023, all three regions, namely Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific, achieved profitable growth, while Brazil became the second sales market in terms of business volume.

Fosun Insurance Portugal's international business experienced rapid growth. While maintaining a leading market share of 30% in Portugal, its share of premiums outside Portugal reached 33% in 2023 and the overall gross written premiums from its international business amounted to EUR1.7 billion.

 

In 2023, Fosun Insurance Portugal’s overall gross written premiums from its international business amounted to EUR1.7 billion.

In addition to the “hard power” of business globalization, Fosun’s “soft power”  accumulated in its globalization journey is equally invaluable. As a representative of Chinese culture, the Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival, a national intangible cultural heritage, made its first overseas debut in Paris, France from late 2023 to early 2024. The Festival Dragons et Lanternes was designated as part of the opening festivities celebrating the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, as well as the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. It also served as a highlighted event for the bilateral cooperation between China and France in 2024.

“This year marks the 32nd year of Fosun's establishment. Since its establishment, we have always adhered to the corporate values of ‘Self-improvement, Teamwork, Performance, and Contribution to Society.’ Global development is precisely the core of ‘Contribution to Society,’” said Wang Qunbin. “In the future, we hope to promote more products and culture to go global.”

Creating innovative products and services around global customers’ pursuit of “a brighter life”

At the summit, the topic of how to cultivate and develop new quality productive forces through technology innovation and digitalization to inject new momentum into businesses sparked discussions among the attendees.

Wang Qunbin said, “Fosun, which positions itself as a ‘global innovation-driven consumer group,’ is committed to creating innovative products and services that cater to the pursuit of a brighter life for global family customers. We recognize that the development of new quality productive forces entails creating productive forces featuring innovation-driven high-quality development.”

Wang Qunbin shared Fosun's strategy for innovation-driven high-quality development from multiple perspectives.

Firstly, it is driven by patents.

“In addition to developing our own patented products, we also introduce patents and license our patented products including antibody drugs to companies in various countries.” For example, HANQUYOU (trastuzumab injection), a monoclonal antibody drug independently developed by Fosun's subsidiary, Shanghai Henlius, has been approved for marketing in over 40 countries and regions worldwide. It is the domestically produced biosimilar drug with the most marketing approvals. In addition, its independently developed HANSIZHUANG (serplulimab injection) is the world's first monoclonal antibody targeting PD-1 approved for first-line treatment of small cell lung cancer. In December 2023, HANSIZHUANG was approved for marketing in Indonesia, becoming the first domestically produced anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for marketing in a Southeast Asian country.

Secondly, it involves the innovative creation of brands and intellectual property (IP).

 “Taking our Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival as an example, Fosun has created the ‘Adventure of Mountains and Seas’ IP based on the Chinese mythology The Classic of Mountains and Seas, which achieved success in China and France. Another example is Shede Spirits. Shede showcases the profound Chinese cultural wisdom through its baijiu products to enhance brand recognition in China and globally.”

Third, it embraces digitalization.

“Digitalization is very important. We actively embrace digitalization in areas including intelligent R&D in the pharmaceutical pipeline to improve efficiency. Fosun also strives to digitalize production, aiming to build ‘lighthouse factories’ and ‘unmanned factories.’ Fosun's pharmaceutical factories are fully automated. Additionally, Fosun embraces digitalization and intelligentization of supply chain, digitalization of corporate management as well as digitalization of customer experience. Our brand, Club Med is a global leader in providing digitalized customer experience.”

“Innovation and globalization have always been the most important drivers of Fosun's development,” Wang Qunbin concluded. In the future, Fosun will continue to collaborate with global partners, including Standard Chartered, to seek joint development and create a brighter future together.