On 11 January, Tim Sweeney, the president of Global Consumer Markets at the American company Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Matt Nickerson, chief operating officer for the Global Consumer Markets Eastern Region, Julie Haase, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Global Consumer Markets, and Martin Bridger, chairman and CEO of Liberty China visited Sanpower Group.

The Liberty executives first visited Sanpower International Plaza at Xinjiekou. The vice president of Sanpower Group Joe Wong, Vice President of Business Development Ying Yong, and the CEO of House of Fraser (hereinafter referred to as HOF) China Kong Jun explained the introduction of House of Fraser and Hamleys to China to the visitors. In the first House of Fraser in China, there is a type of “magic” mirror, and when a person stands in front of this mirror, they can see what the clothes sold at House of Fraser will look like on them. This novel mirror was the subject of great interest from the Liberty executives, who had real fun trying out the technology. The visitors from Liberty also paid close attention to the poster about financial services jointly provided by Liberty and Brookstone that was displayed in the House of Fraser Brookstone store.

The Liberty executives then visited headquarters of Sanpower Group. Sanpower Group Chairman Yuan Yafei warmly received the visitors and senior vice president of the Group Liu Zhenhua and the vice president for Business Development Dai Hong also received the guests. The visitors first visited the Sanpower Corporate Culture Showroom and Liu Zhenhua briefly introduced Sanpower’s positioning in the finance, consumption and health sectors. In field of new finance, Sanpower is currently developing in three main directions: traditional finance, innovative finance and investment funds. The guests also visited the Ageing Service Command Centre at Sanpower and expressed their respect for Sanpower Group’s positioning in the health sector.

In the afternoon, Yuan Yafei attended a meeting with the Liberty executives. During the meeting, Ying Yong, the Vice President for Business Development at Sanpower Group, introduced Sanpower’s main businesses, including retail, general merchandise, health and senior care, to the Liberty executives and analysed potential opportunities and areas for cooperation between Sanpower and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company in these fields.

The connection between Sanpower Group and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company started last year. In August 2016, Sanpower Group and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company reached a strategic equity partnership agreement to play the companies’ shared advantages and develop Liberty China. During his meeting with Liberty executives, Yuan Yafei learned more about Liberty China’s future development plans and expressed his great confidence in the future of the company. He said, “Sanpower Group has more than 20 years of retail experience and a deep understanding of the Chinese market and consumers. At the same time, the Group also has a wealth of local industry resources. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company is one of world’s most well-known insurance companies with experience in insurance management and other business strengths. Both parties will promote the strong and fast development of Liberty China by making up for the other’s shortcomings and learning from each other.”