Fosun International of China said on Tuesday its Portuguese insurance company, Fidelidade Mundial SA, has obtained permission to set up a life insurance company in Macao.

Fosun told the NASDAQ stock exchange in writing that Fidelidade Mundial had also set up a representative office in Mainland China and done deals to cooperate with several Mainland Chinese insurance companies.

Fosun said its annual revenue from insurance grew by 32.1 percent to 31.3 billion yuan (about US$4.4 billion) last year, owing mainly to the acquisition by Fidelidade Mundial of 51 percent of Peruvian insurer La Positiva Seguros.

A healthcare company Fosun owns in Portugal, Luz Saúde, has extended its hospital in Lisbon and begun remodelling the original part with a view to increasing the capacity of the facility by 80 per cent.