Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) is poised to become the first Taiwanese conglomerate to operate a non-life insurance business in China after Taiwan's Investment Commission gave the go-ahead to its subsidiaries' application on Tuesday.
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and Cathay Century Insurance Co (國泰世紀產險), the life insurance and property subsidiaries of the nation's largest financial group, will jointly invest 400 million yuan (US$53.2 million) to set up a property insurance subsidiary in Shanghai.
China's Insurance Regulatory Commission already approved the two companies' application last Friday.
Although the Shanghai firm would be a 50-50 joint venture between Cathay Life and Cathay Century, the latter would be the main operator of the Chinese subsidiary.
Whether the new investment will be a profit earner for the financial group or not depends on its business strategy, Vincent Chang (
Despite running the nation's largest life insurance company, Cathay Financial's non-life insurance business only ranked No. 4 in Taiwan -- after Fubon Insurance Co (
For the first half of this year, Cathay Century Insurance earned NT$700 million (US$21.47 million), accounting for 3.3 percent of the financial group's net income.
Shares of Cathay Financial declined 0.49 percent to NT$80.6 yesterday. The commission's approval was announced after the stock market closed.
Shares of rival Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (
Shin Kong Financial spokesman Victor Hsu (
Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) is collaborating with Chinese carrier Hainan Airlines Co (海南航空) to tap the Chinese market, with each holding a 50 percent stake in the 800 million yuan venture.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last