A leading domestic investment company, Fosun International Ltd, plans to invest in a Malaysian restaurant chain that it believes will be increasingly popular among the middle-class in China.

Fosun will invest about 200 million yuan ($33 million) in Secret Recipe Sdn Bhd through a US dollar-denominated fund via Hong Kong-listed Fosun International, said Qian Jiannong, president of Fosun Tourism & Commercial Group.

He said the company will be the second-largest shareholder of Secret Recipe, without specifying the size of the equity stake.