Allianz China Life goes wholly foreign-owned

Credit: Imaginechina

Caption: Allianz will become the first wholly foreign-owned life insurance company on the Chinese mainland developed from a joint venture.

Allianz China Life Insurance Co announced on Wednesday that it has received regulatory approval to become the first wholly foreign-owned life insurance company on the Chinese mainland developed from a joint venture.

Approved by the Shanghai Bureau of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, Allianz China Life will transfer the 49 percent shareholdings owned by CITIC Trust Co to Allianz (China) Insurance Holding Co.

Upon completion, Allianz China Life will become a 100-percent owned subsidiary of Allianz China Holding, and the first wholly foreign-owned life insurance company on the Chinese mainland transformed from a joint venture.

Allianz said it is proud to be the first insurance group to benefit from the opening-up measures implemented by the Chinese government.

In the past two years, Beijing has been making encouraging announcements regarding the opening of China's financial sector.

Limits on foreign ownership of fund management, insurance, and securities firms, for instance, were lifted throughout 2020 – one year ahead of schedule.