"When you do investments, make sure that you not only invest money, but also put in place services that can add value to the portfolio companies," he said.

Speaking at the World Entrepreneurship Forum in Singapore, Liu said Hony Capital, the equity investment arm of Legend Holdings, invested in a glass manufacturer in China and added to its values by adjusting its share structure and its product lines and making the losing company profitable.

Hony Capital also invested in a machinery manufacturer and bought a cement equipment firm in Italy to turn it around.

Legend Holdings is the parent firm of Lenovo. Its other subsidiaries include Legend Capital, a venture capital unit, as well as a real estate unit.

Liu said the two capital investment arms of Legend Holdings has invested in some 150 firms, with only around 10 failures.

"We have been doing very well, not because the individual projects are generating returns of some 100 times, but because we have less failures," Liu said.

He said the projects were generating returns of 3 to 10 times.

Liu announced his retirement as chairman of Lenovo on Wednesday, two years after turning the company around from losses after the global financial crisis.

He said he would concentrate on leading and growing the businesses of Legend Holdings, whose target is going public in three to five years.