Compagnie des Alpes (CDA) operates 11 ski resorts in France and 13 leisure parks 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.

A spokeswoman for CDA said the French group was still in "active discussions" with Fosun and other potential investors about selling a stake, with a view to securing a deal "by the end of the year or early next year".

"We are making headways but we are still searching for the best scenario," she said.

She was speaking as Wang Qunbin, the president of Fosun, is due to meet Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Thursday at noon. The Ministry said several issues would be discussed.

A diplomatic source told Reuters Companie des Alpes would be included in the discussions.

"Fosun is an important investor in the tourism sector. It must be heard on the Compagnie des Alpes' development project. It's one of the elements of this meeting," the source said.

The meeting comes amid concerns in some French political circles over the growing influence of Chinese entrepreneurs in France's leisure sector, with France keen to ensure that such companies remain under the control of French shareholders.

The source cautioned that the Paris meeting did not signal that the situation concerning CDA was accelerating.

Compagnie des Alpes has previously said it was talking to Fosun, which already controls French holiday group Club Med, and to other potential foreign investors about selling a stake.

"In the event where a Chinese investor would take a stake, we have said it would not exceed 10 percent. So if it is Fosun, it will not exceed 10 percent," the spokeswoman said.

Earlier this year, officials in the French Alps said they opposed the Chinese investment in the company, notably citing concerns about French regions losing control over their ski resorts that create jobs at a local level.

French media reports in June that Chinese shareholder Jin Jiang could seek to gradually gain control over AccorHotels drove French President Francois Hollande to intervene and say that the French group should maintain a diverse group of shareholders.

State-owned bank Caisse des Depots (CDC), which is the main shareholder of Compagnie des Alpes with a 40 percent stake, has said it would stay as the reference shareholder in the company and was "the guarantee" that would keep CDA anchored in France.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Elaine Hardcastle)

By Dominique Vidalon