“I am not saying that other countries are no good, but Portugal is the best. I say this to any Chinese person who wants to invest in Europe”, said Liang Xinjun, Fosun’s vice-president and CEO in English, at a meeting with Portuguese reporters at the group’s headquarters in Shanghai.
He highlighted the fact that “it is easier to build friendships” in Lisbon and “the costs are lower” than in other European capitals.
Fidelidade, which it bought from the only state-owned Portuguese bank (Caixa Geral de Depósitos), has about a 30 percent share of the domestic market.
It was one of the biggest investments in Fosun’s history, costing €1.1 billion.
The Chinese consortium has also been rumoured to be one of the main candidates interested in buying Novo Banco, but Liang Xinjun neither confirmed nor denied any interest in the deal.
Ever since China Three Gorges became the largest shareholder in Portuguese power utility EDP, in 2012, Portugal has become one of the main destinations for Chinese investment in Europe with estimates that some $10 billion of Chinese investment has entered the Portuguese economy.
Fosun was founded 23 years ago with an investment of $4,000 and it is considered to be one of the most profitable Chinese consortiums in China with a share value some 5 million times higher than its initial capital.