In step, a partnership that delivers

When Portugal's Prime Minister Luis Montenegro became in September the first Portuguese head of government to visit China in nearly a decade, one remark he made in meetings with Chinese leaders cut through the familiar tone of diplomatic exchanges.

Portugal will never forget the invaluable support China provided during its economy's most challenging period, Montenegro said.

Turn the clock back to 2011 and, after a decade of sluggish growth, a time when Portugal had been ill-prepared for the fallout from the 2008 global financial crisis, which pushed the country into ballooning fiscal deficits and rising public debt.

The country's then finance minister, Mario Centeno, recalled in 2018 that "GDP fell 7.9 percent, and employment declined 13.4 percent".

"Nearly 500,000 people emigrated between 2011 and 2014, the largest emigration rate the country had experienced in 50 years," Centeno said. "The labor market contracted for 14 quarters in a row. That's only comparable to countries experiencing a war! Portuguese bonds were downgraded to 'junk'."

Privatization of state-owned assets became one of the government's key levers to rein in public debt, which opened the door for an influx of Chinese companies and their investment, including Fosun, one of China's largest private conglomerates.

Founded in Shanghai in 1992, Fosun operates as a global industry group and, in 2014, the company acquired Fidelidade, Portugal's largest insurer and one of the oldest such companies in Europe.

Jorge Magalhaes Correia, chairman of Fidelidade, said: "The privatization of Fidelidade happened in a moment when several other investors had doubts about the future of Portugal. We were in a bad financial situation at the time. But China supported Portugal."

And Fosun knew the investment was also an important strategic move in its globalization journey that began in 2007, following its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, guided by the strategy of combining global resources with China's capabilities.

Today, Fosun operates across more than 40 countries and regions worldwide, with Europe standing out as one of its most important and deeply rooted markets outside China.

Chen Qiyu, executive director and co-CEO of Fosun International, said: "Fosun's business layout in Europe is highly aligned with our overall core businesses, which focus on four segments: health, happiness, wealth, and intelligent manufacturing … Geographically, this includes countries such as Portugal, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy."

In the leisure sector, Fosun has owned France's Club Med, a global household name in the premium all-inclusive resort industry, since 2015. Also in France, Fosun operates in the luxury goods and fashion sectors, as well as in pharmaceutical manufacturing and supply chains serving the African market.

In healthcare, it brought Sweden's ventilator maker Breas into its fold in 2017.

In manufacturing, the 2019 acquisition of Germany's FFT strengthened its position in the automotive industry's transformation.

"This demonstrates the depth of Fosun's industrial presence in Europe," Chen said. "Overseas revenue today accounts for more than 50 percent of Fosun's total revenue, reaching 53 percent in the first half of 2025. A substantial, and indeed the majority, portion of this growth is driven by Fosun's operations in Europe."

Success insured

Naturally, insurance and financial services account for the largest share of its European portfolio, Chen said. Fidelidade, for example, consistently holds roughly a 30 percent market share in Portugal, with its business lines spanning property, automobiles, assistance services, life, health, and more, all of which maintain leading positions locally.

For Correia, the chairman of Fidelidade, Fosun came into the bidding process as an unfamiliar name, but the acquisition soon proved to be a "very good decision", with Fosun respecting Fidelidade's operational independence while providing strategic support and enabling the insurer to remain well-capitalized.

"We have strengthened our capital position during (the past) eight years, and that allows us to be one of the most solid and robust insurance companies," said Correia.

In October, Fitch Ratings affirmed Fidelidade's insurer financial strength rating at A+, and its long-term issuer default rating at A.

"We keep being profitable and are expected to be very profitable in the future," said Correia. "This level of robustness is allowed by our shareholders. The capital also allows us to expand internationally, and this is the major contribution of Fosun, the ambition, and its way of seeing the development of Fidelidade.

"Fosun understood that Fidelidade is too big for the (Portuguese) market. With the support of our shareholders and Fosun, we decided to invest outside, in particular in Latin American countries.

"When Fosun bought us, we had only 5 percent of our income coming from abroad. Now, we have around 35 percent, and we aim to achieve 50 percent in the next five years."

Directly or indirectly, Fidelidade has a presence in Latin American and African countries, including Angola, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Chile, Mozambique, Paraguay, and Peru.

While several overseas operations had been established before the acquisition, Correia said Fosun gave the company the motivation it needed to go further, in line with what he described as the group's broader management approach across its investments: a "glocal" outlook.

"We use a word 'glocal'. It is a combination of 'global' and 'local'. It is the management style that Fosun has been implementing," Correia explained. "Fosun and Fidelidade share the same philosophy overseas. We aim to be open to all kinds of realities and opportunities. But we know that management has to be done by locals.

"Insurance is a business of relationships, confidence, and trust. Trust and confidence depend on the relationships, as well as the knowledge of the markets, people, and institutions. Fosun understood immediately that the 'glocal' model works very well, and we applied the same philosophy in Africa."

Mutual market access

The acquisition has not been all about a one-way flow of Chinese capital. Fidelidade has also used Fosun's platform to grow its China-related business.

As the Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI, continues to serve as a key platform for Chinese companies investing in, and operating, infrastructure projects across Africa and Latin America, demand for locally compliant insurance coverage has surged, driving partnerships between Fidelidade and Chinese insurers.

The model allows Chinese insurers to support their clients overseas while relying on Fidelidade to deliver on-the-ground services, including employee coverage, workplace accident insurance, and workers' compensation, as well as access to local medical treatment.

"It's a growing business, and Fosun opened this door," said Correia. "We developed a China desk in Portugal, and then we established cooperation protocols. We also have a representative office in Beijing."

As Fosun's entry point into Europe, Portugal has long maintained an open and inclusive approach toward Chinese investment, spanning sectors including energy, electricity, finance, insurance, and healthcare.

China's foreign direct investment stock in Portugal hit a record 3.96 billion euros ($4.63 billion) in 2024, marking the 14th consecutive year of growth.

Portugal was among the first Western European countries to sign a cooperation document with China on jointly building the BRI. It was also the first European Union member to establish a formal "Blue Partnership" with China, and the first eurozone country to issue renminbi bonds.

Antonio Noronha, president of the Portugal-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said Portugal's approach is not "accidental".

"It is strategic and rooted in a clear-eyed understanding of mutual benefit," he said. "The history that brings Portugal and China together for over five centuries demonstrates that the defining factor has been a focus on the long-term and on tangible outcomes.

"During Portugal's period of economic recovery, Chinese investments in companies like Fidelidade, REN (Portugal's national electricity and gas grid operator), and EDP (Portugal's electric utilities company), were evaluated pragmatically: they brought essential capital, stabilized strategic assets, retained jobs, and honored the existing corporate culture and social role of these entities. This built trust."

Portugal positioned itself not just as a "recipient", but as "a credible partner and gateway", Noronha noted. The engagement between China and Portugal can offer lessons for broader China-EU ties, he said, highlighting the importance of sustained dialogue — with organizations such as the chamber of commerce acting as dedicated facilitators — and showcasing how more weight can be put on shared responsibilities and partnership.

By framing cooperation around concrete societal challenges, such as an aging population, the climate emergency, rapid technological change, and other issues, the relationship is seen as a necessary partnership focused on working together to improve people's lives, rather than being overshadowed by risk concerns, Noronha said.

"We believe the next 50 years of EU-China relations require more of this pragmatic, project-oriented collaboration," Noronha added.

A trust-based relationship does not develop in a vacuum. It is built on the ground, when doors are open, and people can meet and talk, he said.

Fosun's Chen said the company's investment decisions are "inherently and closely related" to the overall environment in Europe, with the market's openness, transparency, and fairness, together with friendly state-to-state relations, laying the groundwork for Chinese companies.

Geopolitically, there have been ups and downs, but Chen said he remains "quite confident" about the future.

"There remains a strong foundation for the long-term development of relations between China and Europe. Over nearly two decades, Europe has proven a market worthy of sustained investment by Chinese companies," Chen said. "We will continue to expand the global development of our European businesses. We will support them in integrating with China's industrial dynamism, global strategy, and capabilities, by bringing together these strengths with Europe's resources, expertise and talent, to deliver stronger and more sustainable growth."

Correia said: "They know we are good people, and we know they are good people. So, it's easy to have a good dialogue. I truly believe that Fosun is more than a shareholder. It's also a friend of Fidelidade and Portugal."

Contact the writer at zhengwanyin@mail.chinadailyuk.com.