"Yes, we are talking with them (Compagnie des Alpes). We are still interested," said Qian, who also heads Fosun's tourism business. Qian declined to discuss the size of the stake Fosun was looking for nor timing for a possible deal.

Fosun already owns French holiday resorts group Club Med and a 25% stake in Canadian circus company Cirque du Soleil. 

Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) operates 11 ski resorts in France and 13 leisure parks and tourist attractions in Europe, including Parc Asterix and the Grevin waxworks museum in Paris. It is also seeking partners to expand overseas in high-growth markets such as China.

"In China the ski business is booming now and in 2022 we are launching the winter Olympics. For Compagnie des Alpes it would be a good chance to come to China and it will also help their business in France," he said.

Qian also said that Fosun's successful alliance with Club Med made his group "confident about France".

He would not discuss other possible investment targets in France but said, "We are in contact with consumer goods companies".

Tourism is key to China's shift towards more consumer-driven economic growth, with companies including Fosun, Dalian Wanda Group and HNA Group increasing their bets on the sector.

China will account for 14% of total global outbound travel by 2020 from 10% now, brokerage CLSA has forecast, with the number of Chinese overseas trips expected to rise to 200 million a year by then from 125 million in 2015.

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