16th Feb 2005 07:00
Prudential PLC16 February 2005 Embargo: 07.00 Wednesday 16 February 2005 CITIC Prudential awarded life insurance licences for two more cities in China Prudential plc (Prudential) announced today that its life insurance jointventure, CITIC Prudential, has been awarded life insurance licences for Dongguanand Foshan, two large cities in China's Guangdong province. These two licencescontinue Prudential's planned expansion into the rapidly growing Chinese lifeinsurance market. Prudential is the only European life insurer with licences tooperate in 6 Chinese cities. Dongguan and Foshan are key cities in Guangdong province, which lies adjacent tothe Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in southern China. With a populationof 6.4 million, Dongguan is the province's second largest city. Foshan with 5.6million people is ranked fourth. The cities were chosen because of theirstrategic location and market appeal. Last year, these cities recorded GDPgrowth of 20 and 16 percent respectively. Dan Bardin, Chief Executive of Insurance, Prudential Corporation Asia, said,"Guangdong province is one of China's largest and fastest growing regions. Whencombined with our existing Guangzhou operation, these two new licences will giveus an operating presence in three of the four largest cities in Guangdongprovince. It also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to building a materiallife insurance business in China." Captain Chia, CEO China CITIC Prudential Life added, "These new offices willbenefit enormously from the knowledge and successes of our existing operations.As is the case with all our operations in China, we will focus on building highquality distribution and offering a wide range of savings and protectionproducts." CITIC Prudential announced a further milestone in its expansion into China atthe end of January 2005 - the awarding of a licence by the China InsuranceRegulatory Commission (CIRC) to sell group life insurance in the Chinese market. CITIC Prudential continues to grow its presence in China, reaching out to morecustomers. In 2000 it opened its Guangzhou branch, and in August 2003 itsBeijing branch opened for business. In September 2004 CITIC Prudential Suzhoucommenced operation and the company plans to open its Shanghai office in May2005. CITIC Prudential now has a network of over 8,000 staff and agents inChina. - ENDS - Enquiries: Media Relations: Investors / analysts: Clare Staley 020 7548 3719 Marina Lee-Steere 020 7548 3511 Joanne 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 and has had the largest long-term fund in the United Kingdom for over acentury. Today, Prudential has over 16 million customers worldwide and over £170billion (as of 30 June 2004 - latest published figures) of funds undermanagement. 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 £112 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. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial,Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States ofAmerica. 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 700 billion (US$84.6 billion). This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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