Legend makes steady trading debut in HK amid turmoil

Liu Chuanzhi (front), founder and current chairman of Legend Holdings Corp, parent company of the world's largest PC maker Lenovo, addresses the listing ceremony of Legend Holdings Corp at Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, June 29, 2015. The Beijing-based investment company, which was founded in 1984, has its stock listed on Hong Kong Stock Exchange Monday.[Photo/Xinhua]

"Consumption is the opportunity in China," said Liu Chuanzhi, founder and chairman of the company. "The country's middle class has become bigger than the combined population of many European countries, which generates huge demand that needs to be met.

"Sectors such as healthcare, previously restricted to private investors, now have huge room to grow. In other sectors such as travel and transportation, the Chinese are inspired by the examples of foreign countries to improve quality of life," he said.

Zhu Linan, president of Legend, said on the sidelines of the listing ceremony: "Apart from consumption, finance and other modern services, we will continue to invest in 'cool', high-quality businesses. We are embracing the opportunities of the Internet era."

He noted that the company already has eloancn.com, a peer-to-peer lending platform, and Joyvio Group Ltd, a producer and online vendor of fruit.

"We are also looking for valuable investment targets worldwide, which presumably can offer synergy with our investments in China and generate organic growth," Zhu said, adding that the company's European branch is exploring the financial sector.

"We're also looking into international opportunities ... We bought a farm in Chile, and the products are already available at our online platform," he said.