China’s private firms warned ‘days of runaway growth have gone’ amid debt crisis, urged to thrive overseas
- Fosun Group founder Guo Guangchang says the ‘days of runaway growth have gone’, with China’s private firms suffering from high debt and heavy asset loads
- Juneyao Group chairman Wang Junjin also says entrepreneurs should ‘refuse lying flat’, and instead follow China’s going global strategy
Some of China’s most prominent tycoons have been committed to reining in debt, and are also eying the overseas market for increased growth this year, despite Beijing’s attempt to play up domestic economic prospects and calls for more private investment.
“The economic recovery last year was not as fast as we expected. Private firms are still facing huge pressure,” said Guo Guangchang, founder of Fosun Group, one of China’s largest private conglomerates.
The 56-year-old is a respected voice in China’s entrepreneurial circles, with a net worth calculated by Forbes to have shrunk to US$4 billion in 2023 from a high of US$8.1 billion five years earlier.
“However, the worst is behind us. Only those who can survive can reap more opportunities,” he told an annual gathering of the Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai over the weekend.
