Business | When the circus leaves town

Fosun’s big asset sale marks the end of an era in Chinese business

The sprawling group is offloading many of its prize investments

Guo Guangchang, chairman and co-founder of Fosun International Ltd., attends a news conference in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. Fosun, the last of China's serial acquirers buying high-profile assets, reported higher profits amid gains from its investment division. Photographer: Paul Yeung/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In the past few years Guo Guangchang, chairman of Fosun, a Chinese conglomerate, has watched as the Communist Party has taken down his rivals. Two executives at hna, an indebted airline that once held a big stake in Deutsche Bank, have been arrested. The founder of Anbang, an acquisitive insurer, has received a lengthy prison sentence for financial crimes. So has the founder of Tomorrow Group, a banking-and-insurance empire.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “When the circus leaves town”

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