Renowned British reinsurer Lloyd's Reinsurance Company (China) Ltd (LRCCL) has opened an office in the Pudong New District of Shanghai this week.

The Wednesday opening function was attended by British Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Alistair Darling. Before arriving in Shanghai, Darling led a 15-member delegation to the sixth conference of the Sino-British Trade and Investment Joint Committee held in Beijing earlier this week.

The LRCCL is awaiting approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the country's insurance business watchdog, before beginning business operations, according to Lord Peter Levene, chairman of the Lloyd's council in London.

Lord Levene hoped the LRCCL could begin operating in the Chinese market next year.

By September this year, there had been 5,235 British-funded businesses in China, representing a total investment of 13.67 billion U.S. dollars.

Britain is currently China's third largest trade partner in Europe. Two-way trade between Britain and China rose to 24.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, a rise of 24.2 percent from the level of 2004.

Sino-British bilateral trade in the first 10 months exceeded the level for the whole year of 2005 and will top 40 billion U.S. dollars by 2010.

Source: Xinhua