ETAO International Group Announces Its Digital Insurance Business Aaliance Insurance Joins Hands With Alibaba and Tencent to Expand Into the City-Wide Healthcare Insurance Market

NEW YORK, Sept. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- ETAO International Group ("ETAO") announces its digital insurance business Aaliance Insurance joins hands with Alibaba and Tencent to expand into the city-wide healthcare insurance market. In September 2022, Aaliance Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. ("Aaliance Insurance"), a subsidiary of ETAO International Group, announced that it has reached a comprehensive partnership agreement with Ant Insurance, a division of Alibaba's Ant Financial, and Tencent Weibao, a division of Tencent. Partners will carry out extensive cooperation in technology platform, promotion and operation, intelligent customer service, health management, and specialty drug supply and claims service etc. The collaboration will be first implemented in Zaozhuang and Tai'an of Shandong province, Anyang of Henan province, Xiamen of Fujian province, Mianyang of Sichuan province and other prefecture-level cities. These pilot projects will expand extended services related to the city-wide health insurance business. This is a great news for ETAO International Group on the eve of its public listing on the NYSE. Wilson Liu, Chairman and CEO of ETAO International Group said, "We are thrilled about ETAO's partnership with Ant Insurance and Tencent Weibao. With the support of the two Internet, E-Commerce and technology giants Alibaba and Tencent, ETAO would scale up the city-wide healthcare insurance service to China's national market quickly. That in turn will speed up the development and market penetration of ETAO's integrated healthcare services for Chinese customers."

City-wide insurance integrates basic public healthcare insurance program with commercially-offered insurance. It is a new supplemental health insurance model jointly promoted by the Chinese government, insurance companies and third-party platforms. It is unique in that once a municipal government signs on the program, all residents of that city or town will automatically be enrolled in the program. In 2015, City of Shenzhen first launched the "Supplementary Medical Insurance for Major and Serious Diseases." Since 2020, city-wide healthcare insurance products have ushered in a period of rapid growth across the country. Due to the policy support and the increased awareness of people's health protection, the development of city-wide healthcare insurance became more important. The product has the attractive attributes of "two lows and one high," that is, low insurance thresholds, low premiums, and high insured amounts. It has great potential to stimulate, fill and leverage the huge market of inclusive supplementary health insurance. As an inclusive and customized insurance that connects basic medical care and commercial health insurance, city-wide healthcare insurance is important for building China's multi-level medical insurance system, solving medical and people's livelihood problems at different levels, by reducing and alleviating the pressure of medical expenses for the general public, and closing the significant gap for the lack of basic social security protection.

Aaliance Insurance has further invested heavily in the development of a digital medical insurance technology platform and the development of interfaces with the medical insurance system. With a professional team and the expertise in project implementation, Aaliance has formed a unique digital health insurance industry chain. In 2021, the Aaliance Insurance business was in full swing. The strong customer acquisition capabilities of the city-wide healthcare insurance program and the huge health management needs from customers have attracted industry giants such as Ping An Technology, Meixin Health, Yuanxin Technology, and iFlytek. Because of its unique capabilities, Aaliance Insurance has attracted the attention of many industry giants, which led to this comprehensive cooperation with Ant Insurance and Tencent Weibao. It is believed that with its own strong customer acquisition channels, relying on the advantages of the ETAO's platform, doctors, hospitals, specialty drugs, and other business sectors, Aaliance Insurance will be able to take the urban healthcare insurance service as the entry point, and support ETAO to build a competitive "medical & drug insurance" integrated ecosystem to provide customers with the top-quality digital healthcare services.

On January 31 and June 13, 2022, ETAO International Group, the parent company of Aaliance Insurance, signed a merger listing agreement with Mountain Crest Acquisition Corp. III (MCAE), a US SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) company, and signed a merger listing agreement with the US Securities Regulatory Commission (SEC) to submit listing documents and is expected to be listed on the main board of the New York Stock Exchange in November-December 2022.

About ETAO International Group

ETAO International Group ("ETAO"), a Cayman Islands company, aims to be the world's leading digital healthcare group providing telemedicine, hospital care, primary care, pharmacy, and health insurance covering all life stages of patients. "ETAO" brand means "Best Medical Way" with transformative medical care and unparalleled service. ETAO provides best-in-class internet medical services, such as artificial intelligence and big data technologies, to improve health care delivery and quality in specialized clinics and hospital settings. ETAO's platform is seamlessly integrated because of its ability to combine technology and health sciences. ETAO's US subsidiary was established in December 2017 in Delaware USA, and its wholly owned subsidiary Fangzhou Yidao (Beijing) Health Technology Co., Ltd. ("ETAO China"), was established in Beijing in July 2019.

About Aaliance Insurance

Aaliance Insurance Brokers Co., Ltd. ("Aaliance Insurance") was established in 2010 and is headquartered in Shanghai. It is a national large-scale professional insurance brokerage company approved by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, mainly engaged in insurance, reinsurance brokerage and risk management consulting business. The company has been focusing on B2B comprehensive insurance services. On the basis of deeply and keenly grasping the ecosystem, the company has joined hands with channel partners to create a business model with scenario-based customized products, O2O online and offline three-dimensional customer services, in-depth vertical development, and the special industry insurance comprehensive service platform. At the beginning of 2021, ETAO International Group made a strategic merger and acquisition of Aaliance Insurance, and fully supported the company's strategic direction to focus on the health insurance sector with urban Huimin Insurance as a means of acquiring customers. Aaliance Insurance quickly undertook the "Tai'an Civil Insurance" project, participated in Shanghai and Linyi Huimin Insurance, established an interactive technology platform with millions of policyholders and users, and achieved drastic increase of insurance premiums.