LONDON—Shanghai-based Fosun Property said Thursday it had formed a joint venture with locally based Resolution Property to expand the Chinese company's European presence. To be known as Resolution Property Investment Management LLP, the JV will be majority owned by Fosun Property, the real estate arm of China's largest privately owned investment company, and will serve as its investment manager for value-add opportunities across Europe.

The JV marks “a significant step in Fosun's global approach,” says Xu Xiaoliang, VP of Fosun Group and president of Fosun Property. “Resolution Property will be the exclusive platform for value-add investment in Europe for Fosun Property, utilizing Fosun's insurance capital and building up global investment capability.”

RPIM will also serve as the platform for Resolution Property's future real estate investment business, including the launch of Resolution Real Estate Fund V later this year. The two companies did not say how much Fosun would put into the JV.

With Fosun's backing, RPIM will target investments in large assets and portfolios. It will also seek to export Resolution Property's UK model of office development for the creative and tech sectors to new European cities.

Although RPIM is Fosun Group's first European JV, the Chinese conglomerate is not a newcomer to real estate on the continent. It made its debut with the October 2013 acquisition of Lloyds Chambers in the City of London. In early 2014, when Fosun Group took over Portuguese insurer Fidelidade, Fosun Property was tasked with managing Fidelidade's $775 million in real estate assets. Globally, it also owns assets in Tokyo, Sydney and New York City, including a residential development in Midtown Manhattan announced this past April.