Theme park operator Huis Ten Bosch Co. in southwestern Japan said Monday it plans to accept an investment from Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group as part of efforts to attract more Chinese visitors.

Hideo Sawada, head of the operator of the park featuring Dutch buildings and flower gardens in the city of Sasebo, said the Chinese investment company is expected to acquire a 25 percent stake possibly by the end of this year.

Sawada heads travel agency H.I.S. Co., which now holds two-thirds of the shares in the operator. The chief executive also said in a press conference in the city he will aim to list Huis Ten Bosch's shares on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in three years.

Even after the acquisition of the stake by the Chinese company, H.I.S. will remain the top shareholder.

Major shareholders of the park's operator, which also include Kyushu Electric Power Co. and Saibu Gas Co., are expected to sell some of their shares to the Chinese firm.

Under their plan, H.I.S. will have a 50.1 percent stake and Fosun Group will own 24.9 percent, with the rest held by five companies based in the country's southwestern region of Kyushu.

Since 2010, H.I.S. has led the turnaround of the operation of the park, Huis Ten Bosch, in the city in Nagasaki Prefecture after the operator filed for court-led rehabilitation in 2003.

In its business year ended in September, the operator expects park visitors to have increased 5 percent from a year earlier.

In 2015, Fosun Group purchased a ski resort operator in Hokkaido.