Foreign insurance firms regard the historic Sino-US agreement concerning China's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a first step of a "long march".

Foreign insurance company staffers interviewed by China Daily Business Weekly said they ere excited by the agreement.

The Business Weekly on November 21 quoted Howard Margules, chief representative of the US-based life insurer Lincoln Financial Group as saying that the introduction of more overseas companies will not result in a "blow" to China's domestic insurance industry, although changes always look threatening in short term.

Consumers will welcome the high quality of service brought by competition, and foreign firms will become Chinese companies dedicated to serving local people," Howard said.

No matter how easy it is to enter the market, Howard said his company will regret the more than 300 million US dollars invested in the Chinese market in the past.

But, the Chinese government should make its criteria of market admission for foreign companies more transparent after joining the WTO.

"We are most interested in the transparency of market access criteria," said a US property insurer's Beijing deputy. (Xinhua)