“Going global will be a recurring theme for the development of Sanpower!” said Yuan Yafei, Chairman of Sanpower Group at an internal conference at the beginning of this year. It took Sanpower 23 years to grow from a little store in Zhujiang Road in Nanjing into a diversified corporation with total assets in excess of RMB 120 billion and annual gross sales amounting to RMB 130 billion, a company which has always been marching forward and exploring outward.

Brookstone, a new chain store brand in USA, House of Fraser, a well-established British department store, the leading Israeli senior-care service provider Natali, and Provenge-- the FDA-approved cellular immunotherapy for prostate cancer... These renowned international brands are some of the dazzling array of overseas acquisitions Sanpower has made in recent years. The management systems and advanced technologies underlying these brands are indispensable assets that China needs in its time of transformation. Sanpower, by introducing such international brands and leading technologies and services to China, has contributed to the structural reforms on the supply side and embarked on the grand journey of corporate transformation.

As a Chinese poem goes, “A tide-rider faces up to the waves, holding up the banner high despite the torrent.” Faced with the new economic norm, Sanpower follows the tide of the time, fully utilizing domestic and foreign markets and the two types of resources offered by them, coordinating domestic and overseas business innovation, and advancing industrial upgrading and transformation, thus building an image as an open, inclusive, visionary and responsible business of Jiangsu Province.

    On openness: focusing on the Belt and Road Market to achieve win-win through open development

 

    In 2014, Nanjing Cenbest, a listed affiliate of Sanpower Group, acquired House of Fraser, a well-established British department store. This is a photo of the Oxford flagship store of House of Fraser.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping proposed the grand vision of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative, a proposal which materialized from a concept into real action, bolstering the grand landscape of regional cooperation and connecting the China Dream tightly with the World Dream. Jiangsu, located at the strategic conjunction of the Belt and Road Initiative, actively implements Belt and Road decisions and devotes itself to the Initiative, carving out a new landscape of opening up in the course of contributing to the Belt and Road cause.

As a business born and grown in Jiangsu, Sanpower began its international strategy as soon as the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed. Looking to the world, Sanpower first set its sights on the enormous market in the Belt and Road region and made a series of acquisitions in countries along the Belt and Road and in other relevant countries, not only introducing advanced industries from overseas to coordinate with and complement China’s domestic industries and benefit Chinese customers, but also promoting the global development of acquired companies to realize business exchange, joint building and shared resources.

Big Health is one of the key industries Sanpower focuses on in recent years. In 2014, it acquired the leading healthcare company Natali, the biggest health care and at-home senior-care service company in Israel, a country along the Belt and Road. Natali serves half of the senior population in the country, providing services including remote ECG monitoring and diagnosis, emergency calls and emergency treatment, security and aid services, and at-home nursing services.

“In the past, Chinese people had a short lifespan and little experience in senior care, which is why we introduced advanced senior-care services and technologies from overseas so that the elderly in China can enjoy such services, too.” said Yuan. Sanpower has introduced Natali’s leading at-home senior-care and telemedicine technologies and management knowhow to China and provided senior citizens with advanced, intelligent homecare services through An Kang Tong, a Chinese senior care company. After introducing Natali, An Kang Tong has expanded its previous user base of less than 100,000 to more than 4.69 million as of April 2017.

Natali’s advanced telemedicine technologies are also introduced to China. In March 2016, the Municipal Government of Changzhou signed an agreement on remote ECG medical care cooperation with Natali. By the end of last year, the remote ECG medical care center was open for operation, the first B2C pilot project of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) featuring remote medical care. On March 20, 2017, during Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to China, Natali signed a framework cooperation agreement with the government of Gulou District of Xuzhou on telemedicine and senior care project, which will bring Natali’s remote ECG medical system and smart senior care service system to Xuzhou.

Israel has a population of over 8 million, among whom 10% are aged above 65. For Natali, the domestic market for senior care and telemedicine is relatively saturated. The acquisition by a Chinese company not only opens up the Chinese market, but also accelerates Natali’s global expansion. This acquisition benefits both the Chinese company and the Israeli one.

      Sanpower, through its involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative and global footprint, not only brings good foreign brands, advanced technologies and services into China to facilitate the supply side structural reforms, but also drives “Intelligent Manufacturing in China” and “Chinese Brands” to go global.

In 2014, Nanjing Cenbest, a listed affiliate of Sanpower Group, acquired House of Fraser (HOF), a well-established British department store. In December, 2016, HOF opened its first Chinese flagship store in Nanjing, bringing “a different type of” fashion to Chinese consumers. At the same time, HOF British stores start to offer more Chinese products such as silk, brocade, porcelain crafts, and Chinese style household products. With these Chinese elements, HOF becomes a distinctive British department store.

Sanpower has always been engaging in a series of overseas M&A activities, and actively exploring cooperation and communication in multiple dimensions, at multiple levels and in multiple areas to have more partners along the Belt and Road. As of now, the Group has built connections with nearly 40 B&R countries, including Singapore, India, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and Egypt.

This year, the Belt and Road Annual Report: Insight of the Pioneers (2017), compiled by One Belt One Road 100, was published. Success stories and ideas on its involvement in the Belt and Road Initiative were recognized and included as an example of excellent companies in the report by the editorial committee of the report.

       On transformation: defining the future with future and unleashing new dynamism through transformation of the real economy

In January, 2017, Sanpower signed the agreement to acquire Provenge, the FDA-approved cellular immunotherapy for prostate cancer.

Against the mega trend of upgraded consumption needs and structural reforms of the demand side, all companies are required to make a strategic choice: transformation. Upgrading and transformation are keywords for Jiangsu’s future development.

As the Chairman of a private company which started from brick-and-mortar retail business, Yuan Yafei believes that the real economy, as the pillar of the wider economy, will play a key and active role in the upgrading and transformation of China’s economy. Of the many measures and paths China could take in its current crucial stage of upgrading and transforming the real economy, the path Sanpower has chosen is “defining the future with future”.

“The best thing in the world is the direction of our country's future development, the acquisition of these things is the equivalent of shaping our own future.” Yuan Yafei believes it is time-consuming to rely on one’s own efforts alone to realize transformation, it is much more efficient for Chinese companies to acquire excellent foreign companies and introduce their advanced operational models and management systems so as to achieve upgrading and transformation quickly.

Sanpower focuses on the real economy for its acquisition of foreign companies, aiming to acquire leading brands, management systems, and business models, instead of real estate or mineral resources overseas. After acquisitions, Sanpower introduces high-quality and technologically advanced products and services to China, stimulating the transformational development of the corporation while creating more value for customers.

In the same year of the acquisition of HOF, Sanpower acquired Brookstone, an American chain store group selling novelty products. “Brick-and-mortar retail has both challenges and opportunities.” said Yuan, a firm believer of the future of brick-and-mortar retail, “while e-commerce meets fragmented and rigid demands, one thing that stays the same is that people are social animals. Therefore, on-line and off-line cannot replace each other. But brick-and-mortar retail needs transformation to overcome difficulties and usher in prosperity. Providing customers with a fair price, diversified products, unique scenario experience and comprehensive services with more value is the basis of transforming off-line retailing.” This is what drove the acquisition of HOF and Brookstone.

As for industrial layout, Sanpower has carefully taken stock, constantly sought transformation, and pursued sustainable development. As “Healthy China” was elevated as a national strategy, there are increasing consumption demands centering on health, making healthcare a star industry. As early as 10 years ago, Sanpower predicted the development opportunities of the healthcare industry and made moves in advance to acquire An Kang Tong, a company in the area of senior care. In recent years in particular, Sanpower seized the trend and acquired Natali, an Israeli company with advanced experience in senior care and remote medical care management system. Sanpower made moves on technologies such as storage of cord blood stem cells, genetic testing, and cellular immunotherapy, etc. It signed agreements to acquire Provenge, the first and only FDA-approved cellular immunotherapy for prostate cancer, became the holding company of Find Bio-Tech, and acquired China Cord Blood Corporation, Shandong Cord Blood Bank, and Cordlife, a Singapore-listed company. The move made by Sanpower and its subsidiaries pointed to an emerging area: bio-medicine. Sanpower has lined up its strategies in this field to form a holistic strategy, gradually building it into its label. This industry is also one of the key directions for China’s strategic new industries and has significant implications for building a healthy China.

Meanwhile, in response to the country’s call of encouraging private businesses to engage in healthcare, Sanpower actively invested in healthcare institutions, which, coupled with its biomedical technologies and senior care resources, are gradually realizing the ideal of “enabling people to live with hope, seek medical help in sickness, and receive senior care in old age”.

      On public welfare: as a responsible corporate citizen, Sanpower takes its public welfare cause to the world

     In October 2015, Yuan Yafei (rear left), Chairman of Sanpower Group, jointly set up the Wildlife Conservation Fund with Prince William (rear right). The photo above is a picture of Yue Lei (front left), Senior Vice President of Sanpower Group, and Nick Booth (front right), the Chief Executive of the Royal Foundation signing an MOU on behalf of the two parties.

In September 2016, Sanpower sponsored the restoration of a Chinese style Pagoda in the Kew garden in London. This is a photo of the signing ceremony of the project.

In November 2016, Chairman Yuan Yafei and Lang Lang, an internationally acclaimed pianist and UN peace ambassador, won the title of “Annual Figure of Responsibility of 2016”. When talking about his understanding of responsibilities, Yuan said, “As an entrepreneur, running a business well is the biggest social responsibility.” As he sees it, growing and strengthening business is the bedrock of honoring social responsibilities.

For many years Sanpower has upheld the concept of “benefiting society first with corporate development” and actively participated in public welfare causes. As the vice president of China Glory Society, Yuan Yafei leads companies in supporting educations causes, aiding the underprivileged population, and contributing to social harmony. In recent years, Sanpower has donated more than 300 million RMB worth of goods and funding.

On December 24, 2013, “Sanpower Volunteer Society” was officially launched , the first volunteer organization founded by large private companies in Nanjing. With lasting mechanisms and diverse activities, society has encouraged more employees at Sanpower to participate in public causes and incorporated charitable culture into Sanpower’s corporate culture. Sanpower volunteers helped elderly people living alone and handicapped people and took part in environmental protection events, winning the praise of society.

With business going global, Sanpower’s public welfare cause is expanding to the global stage. In October 2015, Yuan Yafei and Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, signed the memorandum of understanding for the Wildlife Conservation Fund they jointly launched. This cooperation is an important milestone for both parties. It is not only the first international cooperation on wildlife conservation between the British Royal Family and a Chinese enterprise, but also the first wildlife conservation fund that Prince William co-sponsored with a Chinese entrepreneur.

With this project as a starting point, Sanpower has actively supported wildlife protection in African regions such as Kenya and Botswana by building local wildlife observation stations a training centers. Sanpower has also taken a series of actions to call for wildlife protection in China, raising public awareness on protection of endangered species.

All these active actions have caught the attention of international environmental organizations to Sanpower and won praise from various parties. As a key participant and facilitator of the Fund, Senior Vice President Yue Lei was highly praised by Prince William and the Royal Foundation for his strong commitment and efficient execution during dialogues and negotiations. In March, 2016, he was appointed by Prince William as the first Chinese ambassador of United for Wildlife to make further contribution to the conservation of wildlife.

During the “Nanjing Week” at the London Design Festival in September 2016, Sanpower gained attention from the UK society with a Tale of Two Pagodas event, aimed at restoring the pagoda at Kew, which had been closed to the public due to long periods of disrepair. The pagoda, modeled after the pagoda of Dabao’en Temple in Nanjing, had a 256-year connection with Nanjing. The renovated pagoda will be reopened to the public in October 2018. Yuan Yafei said that the initiative was to protect Chinese historical and cultural legacies overseas and restore and disseminate traditional Chinese culture. “In the Golden Era for Sino-British cooperation, companies not only need to become builders of economic and trade ties, but also need to facilitate cultural exchanges and friendly interaction between the two countries.” said Yuan.

In Yuan’s opinion, only companies which contribute to social, national and even global development along with its own development can become great ones worthy of respect. “The gauge of an entrepreneur’s value boils down to how much value you have created for society and for your country.”

News link:

http://njrb.njdaily.cn/njrb/html/2017-05/19/content_460692.htm?div=-1