China approves Shin Kong, Hainan JV

Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽), the nation's third-largest life insurer by premium income, said it had received regulatory approval from China to set up a 500 million yuan (US$67 million) life insurance joint venture with Hainan Airlines Group (海南航空).

Shin Kong Life and Hainan Airlines Group will each own half of the joint venture, to be based in Beijing, Shin Kong Financial said in a stock exchange filing on Monday.

The joint venture company will begin operations in May next year and will start by establishing sales channels, Shin Kong said in the statement.

"Strategically, it will focus primarily on the traditional sales agency force and secondarily on group insurance and bancassurance," Shin Kong said.

Bancassurance refers to sales of insurance and banking products through the same channel.

Shin Kong Life said it received the green light from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission on Monday.

On Oct. 19, Hainan Group chairman Chen Feng (陳峰) said Chinese regulators had given the green light for Hainan Airlines to set up the 50-50 joint venture with Shin Kong Life.

Hainan Group (海南航空集團), owner of Hainan Airlines Co, is one of China's four largest aviation consortiums.

Shin Kong Life is owned by Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控).