The third round of financial talks between Taiwan and China concluded yesterday without tangible results, though Chinese officials pledged to provide appropriate support and aid to qualified Taiwanese insurers hoping to set up operations in China’s free-trade zones including those in Fujian Province, as well as Shanghai, Guangdong and Tianjin.
“These meetings are aimed at continuing dialogue and interactions, which is vital for securing future opportunities,” Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) told reporters after a closed-door meeting in Nantou County’s Sitou Township (溪頭).
“By establishing comparable regulatory terms standards with China, Taiwan might improve its competitiveness when attracting foreign investments,” Tseng said.
China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) Chairman Xiang Junbo (項俊波), who participated in the meeting, told reporters that Beijing hopes to expand the scope of ongoing collaborations to include life, health and liabilities insurance policies with Taipei.
However, Xiang declined to comment on progress toward opening the Chinese market to Taiwanese insurers.
“In light of the stalling of the cross-strait service trade agreement, we lack bargaining power during market liberalization negotiations with Chinese counterparts,” Tseng said.
The service trade pact with China, which was inked in June 2013, has not made it on to the legislature floor for review.
Yesterday’s meeting did not cover specific cases, and was focused on improving mutual understanding in insurance supervisory issues and market access, the sharing of regulatory experiences and standardizing insurance sector regulations, Insurance Bureau Director-General Jenny Lee (李滿治) told a press briefing, during which Chinese officials were absent, unlike previous meetings between financial regulators.
Officials on both sides did not comment on specific industry terms in free-trade zones or individual cases, such as a joint venture plan between Fubon Life Insurance Co (富邦人壽) and Zijin Investment Group (紫金集團) in Nanjing dating back to 2010, and South China Insurance Co’s (華南產險) bid to acquire a 10 percent stake in a regional Chinese auto insurer, which had received the FSC’s approval in August last year, but has yet to be cleared by Chinese regulators.
Based on the commission’s data, the China-based operations of six Taiwanese insurers have been expanding in recent years.
FSC data show that in the first three quarters of this year, the six companies had collected 18.43 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in premiums, higher than the 18.13 billion yuan made last year. Assets also grew more than 76 percent year-on-year during the first nine months to 70.84 yuan, compared to 48.28 billion yuan last year.
Among the six insurers, CCB Life Insurance Co (建信人壽) and Cathy Lujiazui Life Insurance Co (陸家嘴國泰人壽) began reporting profits last year, while others saw steady growth in their China operations, the commission said.
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