Undeterred by Hardships, Helping Friends from Far and Wide: Fosun Helps the World Fight Coronavirus with Global Resources

7:23am, March 1 Beijing time (Tokyo time 8:23am) – China Cargo CK253, from Shanghai Pudong landed at Tokyo Narita Airport, with the first batch of 36,000 protective medical supplies to Japan, Fosun officially started the second phase of its operations against the coronavirus by urgently deploying global resources to support the efforts of Japan, South Korea, Italy and other countries and regions against the epidemic.

Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International, said that as the whole world stepped up efforts to prevent and control the epidemic, as a global company rooted in China, Fosun will do all we can to race against time and the virus by delivering the protective medical supplies and useful resources promptly just when the country needs support the most.

36,000 protective supplies dispatch to Japan

The global epidemic situation escalated over the past few days as the epidemic broke out in more countries, with the most recent outbreaks in Japan, South Korea, Italy, Iran and other countries and regions. On February 28, the Hokkaido government of Japan announced the region entered a state of emergency from that day to March 9, calling on all residents to avoid going out this weekend. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization adjusted the global risk level of COVID-19 to “very high” from “high” on the same day.

When the epidemic broke out in Wuhan, China, and other places, neighboring countries such as Japan, were among the first to extend a helping hand. Recently, Japan has entered a critical period for the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus. On February 29, the Chinese Embassy in Japan announced that following the recent delivery of a batch of virus test kits by China to Japan, the Chinese government will deliver 5,000 sets of protective medical suits and 100,000 masks to Japan, of which the first two have arrived in Tokyo on February 27 and 28.

China is a close neighbor of Japan and Fosun as a global company with extensive investment layout in health and happiness business sectors in Japan. With the support and coordination through local platforms, such as IDERA, Fosun delivered a batch of medical supplies to Japan to meet the emergent needs of Tokyo, Hokkaido and other regions in their fight against the epidemic.

The first batch of 36,000 pieces of protective medical supplies sent to Japan included 3,000 masks that were cleared for use in the red zones of hospitals, 3,000 pairs of protective goggles that are permissible in the “red zone” of hospitals, 3,000 pieces of waterproof protective clothing, 2,000 pairs of shoe covers, 20,000 medical surgical masks and 5,000 medical gloves. These medical supplies were raised by Fosun from the United States, France, Israel and other places in the previous stage of its operation against the epidemic.

“Fighting the coronavirus is something everyone in the world must take part in”

“雨ニモマケズ, 風ニモマケズ” (Not losing to the rain; Not losing to the wind) and “相知无远近,万里尚为邻 (“Friendship narrows thousand-mile distances into neighborhoods”.) are lines from a haiku and poem that are famous in Japan and China respectively. These lines and Fosun Foundation’s logo have been printed on the containers of the protective supplies shipped to Japan.

The first line is from an inspirational haiku, “Ame ni mo Makezu”, written by Kenji Miyazawa in the Showa era to encourage people to be strong, courageous and not be defeated by adversities such as the wind and rain. The second line is from an ancient poem, “Song Weicheng Lishaofu”, written by Zhang Jiuling, a poet from the Tang dynasty, and the meaning of the line is friendship will remain strong and as close as neighbors regardless of the distance.

“We are living in an era with ‘a shared future for mankind’. The novel coronavirus has spread to all parts of the world. All humans, regardless of skin color and ethnicity, are under threat; the virus is a common enemy of the human race. Fighting the coronavirus is no longer the mission of any single country or government but something everyone in the world must take part in,” said Guo Guangchang. Throughout last month, we have been supporting China through global deployment of resources to prevent the epidemic from spreading further. Despite the epidemic in China is gradually under control now, many countries have all seen significant outbreaks. Clearly understanding we will not remain unaffected, we are determined to help the countries and people in need as a way to help ourselves and the world.”

In addition to deploy medical supplies to assist Japan, Fosun is also delivering medical supplies most needed locally to South Korea through its business partners as quickly as possible to help them fight the epidemic. At the same time, Fosun has also urgently sent 5,000 masks that are permissible in the “red zone” of hospitals through our European team including Club Med, and PAREF, to support Italy for fighting the epidemic.

Global development and global assistance

Global development is of paramount significance to Fosun, especially development in industries and sectors involving health, happiness and wealth, and Fosun one of China’s private enterprises with profound global resources and capabilities. At present, Fosun operates and has branches in five major regions and 18 countries and regions, and nine of its nearly 60 global partners are from the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Japan and India, etc.

On January 24, the eve of the Chinese New Year, Fosun leveraged its global business layout and global team to carry out emergency tasks for its global supplies deployment plan. As of midnight on February 22, Fosun has deployed and shipped a total of 2.435 million pieces of medical protective supplies, including 1.01 million pieces of protective medical suits, 1.24 million masks, 75,000 pairs of protective goggles, and 110,000 pairs of medical gloves, as well as 470 ventilators, from around the world, with the vast majority of the supplies going to the frontlines in China to prevent and control the spread of the epidemic. At the same time, the hospitals operated by Fosun and a large number of medical staff continue to fight in the frontlines.

As the novel coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world, it is crucial to protect our employees and customers around the world while we combat the virus. “Fosun has mobilized supplies from around the world to provide adequate protection for our employees and customers. Meanwhile, as a technology-driven enterprise, we are operating efficiently by leveraging our digital tools, with our ultimate goal of creating healthy, happy and wealthy life to all our employees and customers.” said Guo.

Proactive efforts taken by regional anti-epidemic working groups

Fosun’s global anti-epidemic operation is directly coordinated and commanded by Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun International and Wang Qunbin, Co-Chairman of Fosun International. In order to better respond to the current epidemic situation, Fosun has established a “multi-dimensional” epidemic prevention and epidemic coordination mechanism from groups, regions, cities, and enterprises from the top-level design perspective. Internal resources of the regions are fully opened and integrated. In addition, global partners of respective regions and management of respective companies are fully cooperated and closely work together in the areas of operation security, employee and customer care, resources coordination and allocation, government and public affairs, and fully exerted their strong organizational capabilities as a global enterprise.

Up to now, Fosun has set up 12 regional anti-epidemic working groups, among which 10 in China and two in overseas. It is worth mentioning that in just two days, Fosun completed the top-level design of the epidemic prevention work for caring employees in Japan and Italy. The anti-epidemic working group mobilized communication through teleconference calls, and adopted the daily meeting mechanism to solve issues timely and efficiently. At the same time, the 13th regional anti-epidemic working group, which is the South Korean regional anti-epidemic working group, is currently under construction.

Taking the anti-epidemic working group in Italy as an example, Fosun has six portfolio companies in Italy with over 900 employees. In order to better ensure the business operation of Fosun's local enterprises in Italy, the regional working group comprises of a decision-making committee, a group resource committee, and a regional executive committee. At the same time, four special working groups have also been set up for employee and family care, protective materials allocation, GRPR resources support, and corporate production and operation coordination. Each group corresponds to the person in charge of the functional lines of the group and is led by the global partners in the region, in order to ensure clear responsibility and efficient decision making.

At present, Fosun’s anti-epidemic work in Japan, Italy and other places are being carried out in an orderly manner. Fosun’s teams in Japan and Italy, such as IDERA and PAREF, have stepped up their prevention efforts against the epidemic: In Japan, the local IDERA team has implemented preventative measures that include staggered work hours and keeping daily records of employee’s attendance and infections. It has also called on its employees to avoid eating in crowded places to ensure the greatest protection for their health and safety. In Italy, the Milan office of the local PAREF team now requires its employees to work from home. It has also notified the workers at the MEDELAN project site to protect themselves and ensure that the engineering works of the project are carried out in a safe and orderly manner. The list of anti-epidemic supplies required by the employees of local companies in Japan and Italy has been prepared, and the company’s headquarters has launched operations to deliver medical supplies and provide support with the aim of doing everything it can to keep its employees safe during the epidemic.

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