On 20 February, Wang Yongqing, Vice Chairman of All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC), and Ma Jun, Minister of International Department of ACFIC led a survey team to Nanjing for a special on-site survey. Their first stop was Sanpower Group. Chairman of Sanpower Group Yuan Yafei warmly received the survey team. Both parties exchanged views and discussed new situations, problems, opinions and suggestions relating to the participation of private firms in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Wang Yongqing visited the Sanpower Corporate Culture Showroom and learned about Sanpower Group’s development, overseas M&A activities, CSR efforts and more. In the Brookstone concept store, the survey team were shown novelty products in which they took great interest. The survey team spoke highly of Sanpower’s healthcare business after hearing about An Kang Tong’s smart homecare solutions in the Ageing Service Command Centre.

Yuan Yafei detailed Sanpower Group’s strategic positioning and the logic behind the group’s M&A strategy in recent years to the survey team, as well as the talent management system and self-reflection policies that have been explored during the process of Sanpower’s development. He said, “As a local, born-and-bred private firm, Sanpower prioritises integrity and has developed its own management philosophy and development characteristics in the process of ‘going global’ and participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. At the same time, by leveraging overseas M&A and bringing in advanced technologies and management experience, Sanpower has innovated its business model, promoted the transformation and upgrade of China’s industry and facilitated structural reform of the supply side. In the end, drawing on Sanpower’s actual situation, Yuan Yafei made several proposals for encouraging and supporting companies to go global.

Following this, the heads of each business sector in Sanpower reported confusions and problems the company encountered in the course of its development in the areas of Broad Consumption and Broad Health, etc. to the survey team and discussed with the survey team whole process management, offshore risk prevention and financial services, among other topics.

Wang Yongqing said that he recognised the achievements of Sanpower, adding that “Private Chinese firms are necessary for China’s current rapid development. Sanpower’s history in business start-up and business endeavours reflects the wisdom and courage of private companies. Today, by summarising its own experience of going global, Sanpower offered a vivid lesson to the survey team. We hope that Sanpower, as a typical company carrying out overseas investment, can regularly give feedback on the difficulties and challenges it encounters while carrying out overseas investment and M&A. We hope to share helpful experiences and develop long-term communication mechanisms with ACFIC and provide lessons for the regulation of private firms’ offshore investments, operations and risk prevention.”