Allianz To Sell Insurance In China

BEIJING, June 22, SinoCast -- "Asia's share of the company's overall global portfolio is still relatively small, but the potential great," said George Sartorel, chief executive of Allianz Asia Pacific.

Allianz earlier this year joined hands with Standard Chartered to sell general insurance via's the latter's branches and platforms in Asia. In China, Allianz is waiting for the relevant license and works together with Baidu and investment group Hillhouse Capital Group to sell insurance via the Internet.

"Although we get a positive message from the regulators, but I think we need to wait patiently," Sartorel said. "If we get the license smoothly, that will be our major change in China as we have the opportunity to reach 800 million potential customers."

But Holmes said how many benefits to be brought to Allianz from cooperation with Baidu remains to be seen.

An insider said Allianz paid about USD 200 million to Standard Chartered for selling its general insurance products in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

He said Allianz is also working with potential partners to expand its life insurance business in China. The company has been operating a wholly-owned non-life insurance company in three provinces and a life insurance company in eight provinces. Sartorel ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the Chinese mainland's banks because it will makes the insurance business' profit margin very low.