AVIVA AWARDED SEVENTH LICENSE IN CHINA

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has granted UK insurance group Aviva its seventh license for operating in China. The license will be used by Aviva’s joint venture Aviva-COFCO which will be offering life insurance products in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, capital of the Hebei province and home to nine million people. Aviva, which is currently the fourth largest foriegn insurer operating in China’s life sector, has stressed the strategic importance of the Hebei province, citing the 17.12bn yuan in total life premiums that it registered in 2006, a growth of 17.7% on the 2005 total and an acceleration that puts its growth ahead of Shanghai and Beijing. “Our move into the Hebei province signals the gathering pace of our expansion across China and brings us closer to realising our ambition of a 10% new business market share in 10 provinces by 2010,” said Charles Anderson, regional managing director of Aviva Asia.