Mar. 29 (NBD) -- Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Limited ("Fosun") will enhance its investment in India and Africa, following its deep exploration in European and American markets, the company's Chairman Guo Guangchang said at the 2017 annual results conference held in Hong Kong on Wednesday. 

The company's new Co-Chairman Xu Xiaoliang told NBD that anything has a cycle, be it the national economy, industries, and corporate development. Fosun is looking for business opportunities in accordance with the cycles. Investment is a kind of means, rather than a purpose, and the company's ultimate goal is to develop industries. 

In February, Fosun acquired the French luxury couture house Jeanne Lanvin SAS and Brazilian institutional brokerage and wealth management company Guide investimentos S.A. 

In the future, the company will tap deeper into opportunities in Portuguese-speaking regions as well as along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative, Guo said. No matter where a company invests, maintaining transparency and complying with local laws and regulations are extremely important, the billionaire added. 

To promote its globalization, Fosun is pressing ahead with its Global Partnership Model. To date, it has had more than 30 global partners. 

Such model is helpful to grow the business in the regions or countries where global partners are located, said EMLYON Business School's Vice President. Economist Song Qinghui agreed with this, saying it is beneficial to integrate global resources, but will still face challenges like cultural differences. 

However, the Global Partnership Model is still at a nascent stage, and global partners couldn't participate in the company's decision-making process. 

At the conference, the company announced it generated revenue of 88.03 billion yuan (14.0 billion U.S. dollars) last year, up 19 percent year over year. Its net debt ratio fell to 49.7 percent, down from 60.3 percent in 2016. It is worth mentioning that the ratio was up to 86.0 percent at the end of 2013. 

The level of leverage is stable and reasonable, said the company's Chief Financial Officer Wang Can. 

The drop in the ratio should be attributed to the strong industrial development, sale of specialty lines insurer Ironshore, and great work in financing, newly appointed Co-Chairman Chen Qiyu explained.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn