NEWS IN BRIEF

Ping An Trust & Investment Co... part of Chinese general insurer Ping An, has signed a 3bn yuan strategic cooperation deal with CITIC Shenzhen, which is engaged in real estate. Ping An T&I is understood to have agreed to buy 2bn yuan in assets from CITIC Shenzhen, and to offer a 1bn yuan trust fund for regional real estate development in Changsa, the capital of Hunan province, and in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. The move is the latest by insurers in China into infrastructural investment, following the recent relaxation of the investment restrictions previously imposed on insurers in China. Ping An itself is spending 2bn yuan building Pin An Financial Building in Shanghai.