Shanghai Daily news

Generali China Life Insurance Co has obtained the green light from the Chinese insurance regulator to set up a branch in Shanghai as it seeks business opportunities in the Yangtze River Delta.
Guangzhou-based Generali China Life said yesterday that it has received the Shanghai branch license from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, following the opening of its Beijing branch in February, 2004.
"The establishment of the Shanghai branch shows the gradual completion of Generali China's operation network in the market," said the life insurer which is funded by Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A and China National Petroleum Corporation.
"Banking on Shanghai's economic and geographic advantages in the Yangtze River Delta region, Generali China Life will expand its business to the whole delta area," said the insurer in a statement.
Generali China Life collected premiums of 333.9 million yuan (US$40.23 million) in 2004, a year-on-year rise of 281 percent.
A total of 57 insurers, including Allianz Dazhong Life Insurance Co, China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co and Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co, are competing in Shanghai's insurance market which generated premiums of 30.71 billion yuan in 2004, up 5.86 percent from a year earlier, said the CIRC's Shanghai Bureau.
Meanwhile, Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co, a subsidiary of Canada-based Manulife Financial, is also entering the insurance market in the Yangtze River Delta.
Shanghai-based Manulife-Sinochem Life said yesterday that it has approval from the CIRC to open a branch in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province.
Premium incomes reached 41.9 billion yuan in Jiangsu Province last year, up 9.41 percent from a year earlier, according to the CIRC's Jiangsu Bureau.