Fubon Insurance Co (
Fubon, 15 percent owned by Citigroup Inc, aims to open a branch office in Beijing after the Taiwan government lifts a ban, Vice President Jerry Kao said. The ban may end as soon as today, a Chinese language newspaper reported, though China still has its own curbs on foreign insurers.
"We'll definitely apply, but we hope China relaxes its own regulations on setting up branches, or we'll have no chance," Kao said.
Taiwan insurers such as Fubon, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) want access to China's market of 1.3 billion people and an economy that's among the world's fastest-growing. The two governments have banned direct trade and investment for more than half a century because China regards Taiwan as a renegade province.
Taiwan, which abolished a US$50 million limit on individual investments in China earlier this month, is easing limits on investment between the two sides to help revive its economy, which contracted 4.21 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier.
The government said in August it plans to relax curbs on financial-services investments in China.
China requires foreign insurers to have representative offices in the country for two years before they can apply to open full branches, and Taiwan companies would require special approval from the country's Taiwan Affairs Office. Fubon opened an office in Beijing earlier this year. The insurer said in July it wanted to buy a stake in a Chinese insurer. Kao declined to comment on the plan.
Shin Kong Life, Taiwan's third-largest insurer by market value, is also considering opening a branch in China after Taiwan eases the ban, said Jimmy Lin, manager of Shin Kong's overseas investment division.
Taiwan officials were due to meet yesterday to consider allowing insurers and securities companies to open branches in China, the paper said. It said the Cabinet will approve the proposal today.
The government's Mainland Affairs Council declined to comment, and Finance Minister Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) said the meeting didn't take place.
"No one held any meeting," Yen said. "I don't know anything."
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