Fosun International, a Hong Kong-listed company, bets on stablecoin licenses.

Author: Xie Zhaoqing, Source: Tencent News "Frontline"

The stablecoin market in Hong Kong has attracted a lot of attention, and Fosun International, which is listed in Hong Kong, has also become one of them. Recently, Tencent News "Frontline" learned that Fosun has confirmed its application for a stablecoin license in Hong Kong and has formed a complete team for the license application.

Unlike other businesses of Fosun in Hong Kong, Fosun's founder Guo Guangchang seems quite invested in the application for the Hong Kong stablecoin license. It is understood that on August 6, Guo Guangchang personally led the core members of Fosun's stablecoin team and some other executives to meet with the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee, and the Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR, Paul Chan, all in one day. Among them, the Financial Secretary is the direct superior of the Monetary Authority, which is the regulatory body for the approval of the Hong Kong stablecoin license.

As of the time of writing, Fosun has stated that they will not comment on this matter for the time being.

The Hong Kong stablecoin license has officially entered the application process. After the Hong Kong government released the stablecoin application guidelines at the end of July, according to the timeline from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, institutions intending to apply for the license can officially connect with the Monetary Authority and other institutions after August 1, and submit the application materials to the Monetary Authority on or before September 30.

This means that, before formally submitting materials, most institutions intending to apply for a stablecoin license and that have not yet entered the stablecoin sandbox will speed up meetings with regulatory officials from the Hong Kong government.

Public information shows that Fosun International (0656.HK), under Guo Guangchang, was listed in Hong Kong in 2007. By the end of 2024, the company's assets reached 796.5 billion yuan, with business segments including but not limited to consumption, wealth, and healthcare. The healthcare segment and the sectors focusing on tourism and lifestyle have listed entities in Hong Kong, namely Fosun Pharma (2196.HK) and Fosun Tourism Culture (1992.HK), respectively.

Prior to this, Fosun's wealth sector entity, Fosun Wealth International Holdings Limited (referred to as: Fosun Wealth), has already ventured into Web3 business. Public information shows that Fosun Wealth participated in the distribution of three tokenized money market fund products launched by Huaxia Fund this year.

The official information shows that Xinglu Technology, a subsidiary of Fosun Wealth, provides virtual asset products through a self-developed platform, in addition to traditional financial products such as public funds, structured products, and bond insurance. Xinglu Technology also launched a platform for issuing RWA products this year.

RWA refers to the tokenization of real-world assets, especially those that can generate stable income, such as hotel leases, photovoltaic power generation, and even stocks, bonds, commodities, etc., using blockchain technology, allowing them to be traded, managed, and circulated on the chain.

According to reports, Xinglu Technology has been actively connecting and encouraging Chinese institutions to attempt to issue RWA products in Hong Kong during this period, including but not limited to tokenized money market fund products, tokenized equity fund products, and so on.

Cheng Kang, CEO of Fosun Wealth and Chairman of Xinglu Technology, stated at the end of 2024 that Xinglu Technology is a key layout for the Fosun Group in the financial technology sector, covering more than 200 clients. In addition to providing services for B-end clients, it will also strive to promote the development of the web3 virtual asset ecosystem.

Local media in Hong Kong reported that Fosun Wealth submitted trademark registration applications for "Star Coin" and "FosunWealthRWA" in July in Hong Kong. This may indicate the addition of new business in the virtual asset sector of Fosun Group in Hong Kong.