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China's State-owned Insurers to Become Share Holding Firms
China's leading life and property insurance firms, China Life and the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC), may soon start bold reforms to transform themselves into share-holding firms.
Wang Xianzhang, general manager of China Life, told a recent company conference that feasibility studies and experimental reforms will begin later in the year.
According to well-informed sources, PICC has also begun feasibility studies for diversified ownership.
China Life and PICC, the largest life and property insurer in China are both solely owned by the state. The only other solely- state-owned insurer in China is the China Reinsurance Company.
Industrial sources said the expected reform will help stated- owned insurers to raise new capital that will make them financially much stronger, which is very important as China is opening its market after it joins the WTO.
The introduction of new investors will also improve the firms' corporate structure and management, making them more efficient and competitive, the sources said.
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