AXA EXPANDS FURTHER INTO CHINESE MARKET

Axa is marking further expansion into the Chinese insurance market as its Axa-Minmetals Assurance joint venture expands its scope in two of the country’s major cities. The joint venture has entered an agreement with Citibank which will see it offering retirement wealth management products to the bank’s customers in the southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Meanwhile according to local reports, Victor Kuk, the chief executive of AXA General Insurance Hong Kong, has suggested the French insurance giant is eying a further acquisition in the country. Axa has had a presence in China since 1989 and set up the Axa-Minmetals joint venture a decade later. Two years ago it bought the Shanghai branch of Winterthur Insurance from Credit Suisse.