SCOR OBTAINS LICENCE IN CHINA

France-based reinsurer Scor has obtained a reinsurance licence in China that will permit it to open a branch in Beijing. The branch will focus on p/c reinsurance deals, Scor said yesterday. Scor first opened a representative office in China in 2000 and it submitted its request for a licence to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission in March 2004. It said it believed that “property and casualty reinsurance in China is going to see a major, recurring increase in demand, carried by expanding economic development and the rapid growth of insurable assets”. It added that the Asia-Pacific region was now a priority for Scor, with p/c premium income in the region as a whole reaching 160m euro this year. Life reinsurance income was likely to reach 55m euro, the company said. Scor currently has Asia-Pacific operating units in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as a business in Australia.