Great Wall Life Approved for Tianjin Branch

Great Wall Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a Beijing-based life and nonlife insurer, was granted permission to open a branch in the northeastern city of Tianjin.

The insurer was given a construction period of six months to build new office by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission. The CIRC said the new branch will not be allowed to commence insurance operations during the construction period.

The regulator also said the new branch has to apply for and get approval to begin operations from the Tianjin Insurance Regulatory Authority after the completion of construction.

Wang Goingwei, chairman of Great Wall Life said that in 2007 Great Wall Life had insurance premiums of more than 1.4 billion yuan (141.3 million euros), ranking it 23rd out of 52 national insurance companies in China.

Great Wall life provides life, health and accident insurance and reinsurance businesses.

Established in September 2005, Great Wall Life has insurance operations in eight provinces, including Beijing, Sichuan, Shandong, Hubei, Qingdao, Henan, Hebei and Jiangsu, with 15 branches and 62 sales offices around China.

Tianjin, although a city, has provincial-level status and reports directly to the central government in Beijing. With 11.2 million residents, it is the third-largest city in China, behind Shanghai and Beijing.

Shareholders of the insurer including Hong Kong-based Dah Sing Life Assurance Co. Ltd., with registered capital of about 1.4 billion yuan.

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