Wang Qunbin: Innovation-Driven, Fosun's Path to Globalization
HONG KONG, Oct. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On 16 October, the 2025 Sustainability Global Leaders Conference was held in Shanghai. Themed "Joining Hands to Address Challenges: Global Action, Innovation, and Sustainable Growth", the Conference brought together approximately 500 guests from China and abroad, including Nobel Prize laureates, Turing Award laureates, as well as executives from Global 500 companies.
Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman of Fosun International, was invited to deliver a keynote speech titled "Innovation-Driven: Fosun's Path to Global Industry Leadership", in which he shared how Fosun has made innovation as its core driving force in pursuing globalization and achieving a win-win between business success and social value.
Wang Qunbin said, "As a global innovation-driven consumer group, Fosun has remained true to its original aspiration of 'Contribution to Society' for more than 30 years. We have combined a global perspective with localized operations and integrated technology innovation with social responsibility to forge a sustainable path driven by innovation and led by responsibility."
Leveraging innovation to address unmet needs of families worldwide
"The greatest innovation is helping people live a life without regrets," said Wang Qunbin. "In the field of health, innovation is not about numbers in academic papers, but hope reflected in the eyes of patients. Behind every unmet medical need is a family longing for good health."
He took HANSIZHUANG, an innovative anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody independently developed by Fosun, as an example to illustrate Fosun's approach to innovation.
Lung cancer has the highest morbidity and mortality rates among all malignancies in the world, and small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is the most aggressive subtype. Approximately 80% of SCLC patients are already in the extensive stage at the time of diagnosis, with rapid disease progression and poor overall prognosis.
In response to this daunting challenge, Fosun's team of scientists successfully developed HANSIZHUANG, the world's first anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved for the first-line treatment of SCLC. To date, it has been approved for marketing in nearly 40 countries and regions, including China, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, Singapore, and India, benefiting more than 110,000 patients worldwide.
HANSIZHUANG is the first and currently the only anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody approved in the EU for the treatment of extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC). "As a Chinese company, we are very proud. This approval marks the successful entry of Chinese innovative drugs into the world's most stringent pharmaceutical regulatory market," said Wang Qunbin.
It is worth noting that on 9 October, the Phase III clinical trial of HANSIZHUANG for perioperative gastric cancer met its primary endpoint, supporting an early drug application for market approval. This achievement suggests that gastric cancer patients may no longer require adjuvant chemotherapy before and after surgery in the future.
Since the beginning of this year, Fosun has achieved multiple breakthroughs in the field of innovative drugs. HLX43, a PD-L1-targeting antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) is undergoing clinical studies for solid tumors such as non-small cell lung cancer and thymic carcinoma in countries including China, the United States, Japan, and Australia. Currently, no PD-L1 ADC has been approved globally, positioning HLX43 as a potential highly effective and safe broad-spectrum anticancer drug. Additionally, in the field of innovative small molecule drugs, FUMAINING, a targeted drug independently developed by Fosun, has been approved for two rare disease indications, filling the treatment gap in the field of rare tumors.
Wang Qunbin believes that Chinese companies are undergoing a major transformation in the field of innovative drugs, progressing from "following behind", to "running alongside", and now "leading the race". "For Fosun, we will continue to pursue original innovation, focus on addressing unmet clinical needs, and collaborate with global partners to advance healthcare development together."
Leveraging innovation to participate in global value creation
As one of the earliest Chinese private enterprises to go global, Fosun has maintained a deep presence in more than 40 countries and regions worldwide. Wang Qunbin stated, "We deeply understand that the core of globalization capability lies in innovation and the ability to integrate the value chain."
In pharmaceuticals, Fosun has consistently aligned its strategy with globalization. After more than a decade of development, it has gradually built global capabilities in research and development (R&D), regulatory approval, business development (BD), and marketing. To date, Fosun's innovative biopharmaceutical products have reached nearly 60 countries and regions, benefiting more than 850,000 patients worldwide. Among them, HANQUYOU, a core product in breast cancer treatment, is a China-developed monoclonal antibody biosimilar approved in China, the EU, and the United States. It has been approved for marketing in more than 50 countries and regions worldwide.
Regarding global R&D, Fosun has established a leading platform for innovative small molecule drugs, a platform for large molecule technologies including antibodies and ADCs, a cell therapy platform, and a forward-looking nuclear medicine platform. Henlius, which focuses on large molecules, has filed over 800 drug regulatory applications globally and secured more than 600 approvals.
Regarding global BD, Fosun has forged long-term strategic partnerships with Abbott, Dr. Reddy's, Lotus, Sandoz, and others, accelerating expansion in key markets. In the first half of this year, Henlius' cash inflows from BD agreements exceeded RMB1 billion, surging 280% year-on-year. In August 2025, two small molecule inhibitors independently developed by Fosun Pharma were consecutively licensed out, collaborating with overseas partners to benefit more patients globally.
Fosun's global innovation extends beyond pharmaceuticals. Wang Qunbin shared that in the field of cultural tourism and consumption, Fosun Tourism Group's (FTG) Club Med have continued to advance AI-driven digital transformation. The G.M Copilot conversational AI assistant, which provides 24/7 instant and personalized service, has already expanded to 12 markets worldwide, including Brazil, France, Belgium, Singapore, and Malaysia. In August 2025, FTG entered into a full-stack AI collaboration with Alibaba Cloud to jointly develop the cultural tourism intelligent system, "AI G.O", based on Tongyi Qianwen (Qwen) models, substantially enhancing the end-to-end vacation experience for customers worldwide.
In the field of financial services, Fosun Insurance Portugal has leveraged AI applications to comprehensively improve the efficiency of its entire business process and enhance data accuracy, driving rapid growth of its insurance business. Currently, the rate of fully automated processing for motor claims has risen from 48% at the end of 2023 to 66%.
In addition, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival has expanded internationally, with events held successively in Paris, France, and Bangkok, Thailand, offering new opportunities for international audience to discover and appreciate Chinese culture. Meanwhile, Shede Spirits, embodying the Chinese wisdom of "giving and receiving", has expanded its global footprint, now available in 40 countries and regions.
"Innovation is the fundamental driving force of value creation. We firmly believe that consistently generating value through innovation is the cornerstone for Chinese companies to go global," said Wang Qunbin.
Leveraging innovation to advance global corporate social responsibility
"Enterprises are not only commercial entities but also social citizens. We believe that developing business for good lays the foundation for sustainable corporate development. Innovation is not just a technological breakthrough but a redesign of solutions to social issues," said Wang Qunbin. Over more than 30 years of development, Fosun has consistently prioritized ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) responsibilities.
In the fight against malaria worldwide, Fosun has consistently contributed the "China Solution", developing artemisinin discovered by Nobel Prize laureate Tu Youyou's team into China's first two innovative drugs, China no. 001 (artesunate) and no. 002 (artesunate for injection). As at the end of June 2025, Fosun had supplied a cumulative total of over 420 million doses of artesunate for injection globally, saving the lives of more than 84 million patients with severe malaria worldwide.
Despite significant global progress against malaria in recent decades, it remains a major public health challenge, especially in sub-Saharan Africa where malaria claims a life every minute. According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) World Malaria Report 2024, there were an estimated 263 million new malaria cases in 83 countries and 597,000 malaria deaths worldwide in 2023.
Facing this daunting challenge, Fosun continues to innovate and strives to enhance drug accessibility. In June 2023, Fosun's second-generation artesunate for injection, Argesun, received WHO prequalification (WHO-PQ), becoming the first artesunate injectable presented with a single solvent system approved by WHO-PQ. Compared with the first generation, the second generation greatly improves clinical convenience and is particularly suited for remote areas in Africa with limited medical infrastructure. It is hailed by local healthcare workers as a "life-saving medicine from China".
Similarly, centered on the global public health issue, Fosun launched the Rural Doctors Program in China's rural areas in 2017. Guided by the principle, "We support rural doctors, and rural doctors protect all", the Program has, after eight years of persistent effort, covered 78 counties in 16 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions, supported 25,000 rural doctors and benefited more than 16 million rural residents and 3 million rural families.
In September this year, the "Healthy China • 2025 National Warm-Hearted Rural Doctors and Township Hospital Directors" award ceremony took place at Tsinghua University. During the event, the AI Rural Doctor Assistant (version 1.0) was unveiled. Developed using Alibaba's Tongyi large model, this tool transforms the Rural Doctor's Pocket Guide, a clinical reference jointly compiled by experts, into a digital database. Rural doctors can efficiently consult evidence-based, inclusive primary care protocols through a simple Q&A interface, enhancing their daily work efficiency.
"When every rural doctor in China and every child in Africa can benefit from the most important innovative dividends of our era, our innovation achieves its greatest value," said Wang Qunbin. "'Contribution to Society' has been Fosun's corporate value since its establishment. Whether through providing artesunate to aid the fight against malaria in Africa or implementing the Rural Doctors Program, these initiatives embody this value in action."
Thanks to years of sustained effort, Fosun has maintained an MSCI ESG rating of AA, and has been repeatedly included in the S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook, ranking among the top 1% of Chinese companies. Its FTSE Russell ESG score has also continued to lead its global peers.
Wang Qunbin stated that on the path to sustainable development, the power of "business for good" is driving profound changes among enterprises and societies, both in China and globally, under the vision of a community with a shared future for mankind. "Looking ahead, Fosun will join hands with global partners, leveraging innovation as the ladder and responsibility as the rope to continue climbing new heights in sustainable development, contributing the wisdom and strength of Chinese enterprises to the community with a shared future for mankind."
SOURCE Fosun
Share this article