HSBC shakes hands with chinese life Insurance joint venture
In its China life insurance joint venture, HSBS Holdings enters to buy the remaining 50% stake to fully own the company as China gears up its markets by removing foreign ownership restrictions on foreign funded insurance companies. This agreement will help HSBC to expand its mark in China, as part of CEO Noel Quinn’s plan to boost the company’s business and enhance its investments and capital to Asia. In a statement, Quinn tells that they are trying to make steps in their growth strategy, despite the coronavirus pandemic, and that the transaction will help boost the ambition of accelerating growth in their Asian franchise and further extend their capabilities in wealth. As part of its broad overhaul announced earlier on February, HSBC, Hong Kong had turned its focus on growth markets such as mainland China and Hong Kong. After U.S. and Japan, China’s insurance comes third with an estimated $318bn in premiums, and with current reforms in ownership restrictions, HSBC joins the list of companies as foreign fully-owned insurers in mainland China. China opened its asset-management markets for wider foreign firms and companies on April 1st this year despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.