China’s first private insurance company, Minsheng Life Insurance, has been established, Xinhua reported. The Beijing-based company is funded by 21 largely private shareholders, including New Hope Group, the parent of New Hope Agribusiness, a major investor in Minsheng Bank, which is China’s only private bank. The new company will begin operations once it has formed a joint venture with a foreign insurer.
The preparatory team for the company has been in talks with several major foreign firms, though the only name given so far as a potential partner has been Travellers Group, the insurance arm of financial giant Citicorp.