China Life has been in talks with several foreign companies including Lehman Brothers and Citigroup about their taking a stake in China’s biggest life insurer, said general manager Wang Xianzhang in a report by Bloomberg. The state-owned China Life was formed in 1996 when the government split the former monopoly People’s Insurance Co of China. […]
Category: Banking & Finance
Categories
Foreign firms gain market share
According to China Insurance Regulatory Commission chairman Wu Xiaoping, 34 foreign insurance companies had been approved to conduct business in China by the start of June, People’s Daily reported. Foreign insurers operating in China had combined premium revenue of Yn3.2bn in 2001. In Shanghai and Guangzhou, the only two cities open to foreign insurers before […]
Categories
Alcatel aims for top position
Alcatel has formed an integrated group of its Shanghai manufacturing operations and launched it as Alcatel Shanghai Bell at the end of May, South China Morning Post said. The head of Alcatel’s China operations said that it plans to become the mainland’s top telecommunications gear maker. To this end, the company will more than double […]
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, one of the country’s four major stateowned banks, announced a pre-tax profit rise of 15.8 per cent in 2001 to Yn5.89bn. A bank spokesman attributed the increase to improved efficiency and asset quality. During 2001, the bank cut staff numbers by 47,000 to 429,000 and closed 3,400 lossmaking […]
Categories
Banks given expansion approval
Regulators have given approval for six foreign banks in Shenzhen to expand their business scope, Xinhua reported. The Shenzhen branches of Bank of East Asia, HSBC and Hang Seng Bank will be allowed to offer overall foreign exchange business to Chinese customers after increasing their capital. The Shenzhen branches of Overseas Union Bank, Wing Hang […]