Four Chinese insurance firms have formed an alliance for strategic cooperation, the first such deal in China's insurance industry.
With the green light from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the four insurance firms, based in Shanghai, Xi'an, Shenzhen and Urumqi respectively, will cooperate in insurance services, business administration as well as personnel and technological exchanges.
The four firms will form a network that covers some 20 Chinese provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions and boasts over 2,500 employees, two billion yuan (241 million U.S. dollars) of capital and over 1.5 billion yuan (181 million U.S. dollars) of annual avenue.
A spokesman from the Shanghai-based Tian'an Insurance Co. said the strategic alliance between the Chinese firms will help improve the overall competitiveness of China's insurance industry after the country's entry to the World Trade Organization.