15th Mar 2005 07:00
Prudential PLC15 March 2005 Embargo: 07.00 Tuesday 15th March 2005 CITIC Prudential awarded life insurance licence for Wuhan in Central China Prudential plc (Prudential) announced today that its life insurance jointventure, CITIC Prudential, has been awarded a life insurance licence for Wuhan,in Hubei province in Central China. Prudential is the only foreign life insurerwith a licence for Wuhan and the only European life insurer with licences forseven Chinese cities. Wuhan is the capital of Hubei province and is an economic and cultural centrefor Central China. With a population of 7.68 million people, Wuhan's GDP in 2004was £12.9billion, an increase of 14.5% on 2003. Wuhan represents CITICPrudential's first foray into Central China and will be used as a base forexpansion within Hubei province. Mark Norbom, Chief Executive, Prudential Corporation Asia, said, "Just asPrudential was the first British insurer to enter the Chinese life insurancemarket in 2000, we are the first foreign life insurance company with a licencefor the economically important city of Wuhan. This move into Wuhan in CentralChina further demonstrates the strength of our commitment to building a materiallife insurance business in China with our partner CITIC." Captain Chia, CEO China CITIC Prudential Life added, "This new office is anexciting opportunity for CITIC Prudential. Located within Hubei province inCentral China, Wuhan provides CITIC Prudential with an excellent platform forfurther expansion into Central and Western China." CITIC Prudential continues to grow its presence in China. In 2000 it opened itsGuangzhou branch, and in August 2003 its Beijing branch opened for business. InSeptember 2004 CITIC Prudential Suzhou commenced operation. In February 2005CITIC Prudential announced new licences for Dongguan and Foshan and opened thebusinesses in March. CITIC Prudential Shanghai will open in May and the Wuhanbranch will open in the third quarter of 2005. CITIC Prudential now has a network of over 8,000 staff and agents in China. - ENDS - Enquiries Media Investors / analysts Clare Staley 020 7548 3719 Marina Lee-Steere 020 7548 3511Joanne Davidson 020 7548 3708 About Prudential Prudential plc is a leading international financial services group, providingretail financial services and fund management in its chosen markets: the UnitedKingdom, the United States, Asia and continental Europe. Prudential has been writing life insurance in the United Kingdom for over 150years. Today, Prudential has over 16 million customers worldwide and over £187billion of funds under management (as at 31 December 2004). In the United Kingdom Prudential is a leading life and pensions provideroffering a range of retail financial products. M&G is Prudential's UK & EuropeanFund Manager, with around £126 billion of funds under management. JacksonNational Life, acquired by Prudential in 1986, is a leading provider oflong-term savings and retirement products to retail and institutional customersthroughout the United States. Egg plc, in which Prudential has a 78 per centshareholding, provides banking, insurance and investment products through itsinternet site www.egg.com. Prudential is the leading European-based life insurer in Asia with operations in12 countries. *Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of businessin the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of theworld's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financialservices directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout theworld. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has over £187 billion inassets under management, as at 31 December 2004. Prudential plc is notaffiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whoseprincipal place of business is in the United States of America. About CITIC Group (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) CITIC was established on October 4 1979 by Rong Yiren. The creation of CITIC wasinitiated and approved by Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China's reform. CITIC is a window on the way China has opened to the outside world. Since itsinception, CITIC has always adhered to the principle of innovation. In line withgovernment laws, regulations and policies, CITIC has attracted and utilisedforeign capital, introduced advanced technologies, and adopted advanced andscientific international practices in operations and management. CITIC hasestablished successful, strong performing businesses in many fields. As aresult, CITIC has made significant contributions to the country's reform andopening up drive and has improved China's reputation both domestically andabroad. CITIC has grown into a large multinational conglomerate. It now owns 44subsidiaries in countries including Hong Kong, the United States, Canada,Australia and New Zealand. The company has also set up representative offices inTokyo, New York and Frankfurt. CITIC's core business ranges from financialservices to service industries. By the end of 2003, CITIC had total assets ofover RMB 596 billion (£39.3 billion). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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