China’s Happy Life Insurance Approved for Gansu Branch

Happy Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based life insurer, has won approval to establish a branch in northwest China’s Gansu province.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission said the life insurer will have a six-month construction period for its offices, during which it is not permitted to commence insurance operations.

Earlier this month, Happy Life’s Guangdong branch and its first third-level insurance unit in Baoji city, in Shaanxi province, have respectively commenced operations on March 13 and March 4.

According to Happy Life, its Shaanxi sub-branch was granted permission to operate by the Shaanxi provincial insurance bureau on Dec. 24, 2008.

As of February 2009, Happy Life has 10 branches operating in China, including Beijing, Shaanxi, Shenzhen, Hunan, Anhui, Shanghai, Liaoning, Chongqing, Jiangsu and Guangdong.

By the end of January, Happy Life recorded original premium income of 264 million yuan (US$39 million), according to the CIRC.

Established on Oct. 31, 2007, with registered capital of 1.16 billion yuan, Happy Life is principally engaging in individual life insurance, health insurance, individual accident injury insurance and health insurance-related new products in China.

(By Rebecca Ng, Hong Kong news editor: [email protected])