At the opening ceremony of the Haier New York Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Gary Benanav, chairman and CEO of the US insurer, said his company had moved into China 120 years ago, and now it returned to the country which was regarded as having the most potential of any market in the world.

Benanav noted that his company won approval from the Chinese government on December 11, 2001, to establish a joint venture insurer in the country.

Explaining why home appliance manufacturer Haier, an outsider in the insurance industry, was chosen as a partner, the American businessman said the two companies shared the same culture and values as well as similar viewpoints on serving the customers.

Haier, with global sales of 60.2 billion yuan (about US$7.25 billion) last year, is one of the most successful private companies in China.

According to Zhang Ruimin, chairman of Haier, it took less than one year to gain official approval to set up the joint venture company.

The two partners each share 50 percent of the 200 million yuan (US$24 million) registered capital of the new company, which is the 15th foreign-funded insurer in Shanghai, China's financial center.

China's insurance industry, which has maintained two-digit growth over the past two decades, is expected to generate 220 billion yuan (about US$26.5 billion) in premiums this year, a 20 percent rise over last year.

By the end of November, premiums totaled 21.5 billion yuan (about US$2.59 billion) in Shanghai and the yearly income is expected to reach 23 billion yuan (US$2.77 billion), up by over 30 percent year-on-year.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2002)