Another Japanese Property Insurer to Enter China

BEIJING, Aug 08, 2008 (SinoCast China Financial Watch via COMTEX) -- NPPKF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- The third oldest non-life insurer in Japan NIPPONKOA Insurance Co., Ltd. lately gained approval from China Insurance Regulatory Commission to set up its wholly owned property insurance subsidiary in China.

It thus becomes the fifth Japanese property insurer that forays into China, a booming insurance market in the world. The other four include Sompo Japan Insurance Inc, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd., Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd., and Aioi Insurance Co., Ltd.

The construction of NIPPONKOA's coming China subsidiary is scheduled to be finished within one year. After that, NIPPONKOA Insurance is ordered to submit an application to China's top insurance industry regulator for opening the subsidiary.

In addition, because of NIPPONKOA Insurance's leading position in global logistics insurance sector, it will mainly focus on its logistics insurance business and property insurance business in China once its China subsidiary makes a debut, said a top executive for NIPPONKOA Insurance's China business.

Noticeably, motor vehicle insurance business for foreign insurers is not so important as that for the Chinese insurers. For instance, the business accounted for just 47.5% of NIPPONKOA Insurance's business structure, much lower than the 60% to 70% in their Chinese peers. Therefore, many foreign insurers plan to further develop their strengths in construction all risks insurance, liability insurance, marine insurance, and energy insurance, in a bid to find their own profit streams in the Chinese market.

NIPPONKOA Insurance was established in April 2001 through a merger of The Nippon Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. and The Koa Fire & Marine Insurance Co., Ltd. It ranks No. 4 among all property insurers in Japan, capturing a more than 9% share in the Japanese non-life insurance market.

Besides property insurance, the insurer also joins forces with Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., a Japanese life insurer, to set foot in the Japanese life insurance sector.

As early as 1972, NIPPONKOA Insurance had become the first Japanese insurer that provided marine insurance damage survey service for The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China, still called PICC Holding at that time. By now, the Japanese insurer has had six offices in China. In April 2006, it joined hands with the Insurance Institute of China for the establishment of the NIPPONKOA innovative fund.

(USD 1 = CNY 6.84)

From www.hexun.com, Page 1, Thursday, August 07, 2008 info@SinoCast.com

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index