On 12^th, April 2018, Yuan Yafei, Chairman of Sanpower Group held a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon, the current First Minister of Scotland who was visiting China at the time, in Shanghai. During the meeting, Yuan Yafei narrated the trade and economic businesses that Sanpower Group is developing in Scotland, and the two parties exchanged views on a wide range of topics.

During the talks, Yuan Yafei elaborated the cooperation between Sanpower Group and Scotland. He pointed out that as an enterprise with roots in retail, Sanpower has a strong bond with Scotland. In 2014, Nanjing Cenbest, a listed company within the Sanpower Group, acquired House of Fraser (hereinafter referred to as HOF), a British department store founded in Glasgow in 1849. In addition to retail, Sanpower Group has been expanding in New Health services over the years. In 2017, Sanpower Group acquired 100% shares of Dendreon, an American pharmaceuticals company. Along with that deal, Sanpower took over Provenge, the world’s first and only FDA-approved immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer made from a patient’s own immune cells. During the meeting, Yuan emphasized that Sanpower is looking forward to deeper collaboration with Scotland in the health industry.

Sturgeon mentioned that Glasgow is a city with a special meaning for her and she appreciated that Glasgow gave birth to a great brand such as HOF. She also stressed that Scotland has strong advantages in biomedical research and development. Moreover, Sturgeon invited Yuan Yafei to savour Whiskey in Scotland and remarked, “I’m very pleased to have a talk with Mr. Yuan Yafei during my visit in Shanghai, which turns out to be quite a good opportunity for me to understand Sanpower’s investment intention in Scotland.”

                                                                                                                      

It is reported that three weeks before the meeting with Sturgeon, Yuan Yafei had talks with Liam Fox, British Secretary of State for International Trade, and Alun Cairns, Secretary of State for Wales, discussing the development of Sanpower Group in the UK.