China's first joint venture life insurer to boost business

Emerging Markets Economy, Apr 8, 2003

Manulife-Sinochem, China's first joint venture life insurer, launched its first branch in Guangzhou last week. This move is its latest effort to boost its business to become a national financial institution.

According to China Daily, the branch also marks the country's first insurance branch launched by joint venture companies in the budding market, bringing Sino-Canada joint ventures ahead of many foreign rivals to tap China's booming insurance market.

Following the opening of the first branch, the six-year-old joint venture life insurer also filed documents to the industry's regulator late last week to apply for a licence to open a business in Beijing to become the first joint venture life insurance to debut in the nation's capital.

Beijing is the home to major domestic insurance companies, such as China Life and Taikang Life, and one arm of a wholly owned foreign insurer - the US-based American International Assurance (AIA), which created its new branch in Beijing in June.

As of today, the country is nearly ending the bidding process for the management of the first part of a large pool of funds amounting to 80 billion yuan (US$9.66 billion). Both domestic and joint venture fund companies are allowed to bid.

The bidding will be realized through the joint venture firm, and the company has no plans to flood funds to buy stakes in other Chinese financial institutions - a move much encouraged by the Chinese Government to push forward the reforms of its creaky financial sectors. (Emeconomy.com)