CIIH Poised to Cement Foothold on Mainland

China International Insurance Holdings Co Ltd (CIIH) is eyeing more than the resumption of life and property insurance businesses on the mainland, according to Business Weekly.

"We will strive to become a financial group with diversified businesses, including insurance, reinsurance, assets management and insurance agency," Miao Jianmin, CIIH's executive director and chief executive officer, said last week in Shanghai.

The Hong Kong-listed company, approved to resume its life and property insurance businesses on the mainland by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) this March, plans to acquire the assets management company, which manages its own open-end funds, in Hong Kong owned by its Beijing-based parent company China Insurance Group(CIG).

Last month, the firm also acquired 25 per cent of Huatai Insurance Brokers Ltd owned by Min'an Insurance, CIG's another subsidiary in Hong Kong.

"We will bring those businesses £¨assets management and insurance agency£© also to the mainland later," Miao said.

It is expected that the Insurance Law will be revised in next five years, which hopefully will give Chinese insurance companies more freedom to develop financial businesses other than insurance, such as assets management, according to Miao.

"Our timetable£¨of diversifying CIIH's businesses£© is at the same pace with the revision of the law," he added.

To resume the life and property insurance sectors on the mainland, however, is CIIH's primary task now.

At the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the insurance sector was closed and many insurance companies retreated to Hong Kong, including Taiping Insurance, China International Re and Sino-Re Reinsurance Broker. The latter two were later merged to the listed CIIH.

"Taiping Life and Taiping Property insurance companies will now bring us back to the mainland," Miao said.

CIIH will purchase 50 per cent stake of Taiping Life and Taiping Property, two wholly-owned subsidiaries of CIG in Hong Kong, and expand their business to mainland. CIG will keep the remaining 50 per cent.

"When this restructuring is done, we will transfer 24.9 per cent of shares of Taiping Life to foreign insurers and certain shares of Taiping Property to insurers of Hong Kong and Macao, " said Miao, who is responsible for the resumption of life insurance on the mainland.

The whole restructuring work might be completed by the end of this year, he said.

By then, Taiping Life is to headquarter in Shanghai and Taiping Property in Shenzhen.

Only one or two overseas international insurers are invited to strategically buy the 24.9 per cent shares of Taiping Life, Miao added.

Currently, overseas investor can not hold more than 10 per cent of an insurer's total stake, but Miao said they are communicating with CIRC on not being restricted by the policy.






People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/