CHINA LIFE APPROACHES CCB ABOUT SALE OF STRATEGIC STAKE

China Life Insurance has made an approach to China Construction Bank (CCB) about the sale of a strategic stake, reports South China Morning Post and Hong Kong Economic Journal , citing sources close to the companies. If the deal were to go through it would result in a cross-shareholding between China’s leading life assurer and its third-largest commercial bank. The talks were understood to have begun when it became clear that central government and regulators were becoming keener on the concept of diversified financial institutions. Any agreement would expand China Life’s distribution network. China Life remains the only one of three offshore listed mainland assurers/insurers — the others being PICC P/C and Ping An Insurance — that has yet to bring in a strategic investor.