Premium income falls at AXA venture

AXA's Shanghai joint venture, AXA Minmetal, saw new premiums fall 22 per cent in 2002 compared with the previous year. Mark Pearson, regional chief executive for life insurance, blamed this on difficulties in recruiting new agents to expand its 1,300 sales team. However, he believed the joint venture would achieve a better result this year after opening a branch in Guangzhou.