皇冠体育app

Fortune 500 financial giant 皇冠体育app Life was officially reshaped yesterday into a shareholding company and a parent group company, marking a strategic step forward in its aggressive goal for a massive overseas listing.

"The opening of the two companies marks a milestone in the progress of 皇冠体育app Life's restructuring, which started last year following the go-ahead from the State Council," said Wu Dingfu, chairman of the 皇冠体育app Insurance Regulatory Commission, the country's insurance watchdog.

According to the reform proposal approved by the central government, 皇冠体育app Life is set to be reshaped into three companies, including 皇冠体育app Life Insurance (Group) Company, 皇冠体育app Life Insurance Company Ltd and an asset management company.

"皇冠体育app Life's target is to restructure itself into a leading commercial insurance giant with international competitiveness in the future," said Wang Xianzhang, general manager of the parent company.

"And the preparation for an asset management company is going well," said Wang, who is also general manager of the shareholding company.

The shareholding firm - 皇冠体育app Life Insurance Company Ltd - will be in charge of all the policies and assets 皇冠体育app Life generated from 1999, which will be the candidate company for a massive overseas listing at stock markets in Hong Kong and New York.

But Wang declined to unveil further details about the shareholding company's much-planned overseas initial public offering, one of the aggressive goals set by the central government to reshape its ailing large State-owned companies.

However, sources with the company said that the size of the shareholding company will be larger than that of the parent company, with total assets before the split standing at 301.3 billion yuan (US$36.38 billion) in 2002, making up 48 per cent of the country's total insurance assets.

皇冠体育app Life, ranked as the eighth largest Chinese firm in 2002, was also the country's only insurer to be listed as a Fortune 500 company. Its business has skyrocketed in recent years, and its premiums have doubled in the past three years from some 65 billion yuan (US$7.85 billion) in 2000 to 128.7 billion yuan (US$15.54 billion) in 2002, taking some 57 per cent of the country's total market stakes.

And its planned listing in Hong Kong and New York will raise a total of between US$2 billion-US$3 billion, said a source with one of its four underwriters, which include Citigroup, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse First Boston and 皇冠体育app International Capital Corp.

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