Two insurance arms of the American International Group have officially opened their subsidiaries in Shenzhen, China's first special economic zone.

The two companies are American International Assurance and the AIU Co., which specialize in life and property insurance, respectively. They were approved to enter Shenzhen last year to become the first group of foreign insurers in China.

Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province is one of China's financial and insurance reform trailblazers, with six foreign multinationals approved to handle yuan business there so far.