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China's financial opening-up draws interest from Allianz, FWD

China's program to widen foreign access to its financial sector continues to draw applications from foreign investors, the Shanghai Financial Service Office said in a May 14 press briefing.

Hong Kong's FWD Life Insurance Co. (Bermuda) Ltd. and its partners applied for a life insurance license to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission on May 4, the office said. Then, on May 8, Japan's Nomura Holdings Inc. applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission to set up a joint venture in which the Japanese company will have a 51% stake. The next day, Germany's Allianz Group decided to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary Allianz (China) Insurance Group Co., the office said.

Earlier in April, the Shanghai bureau of the CBIRC approved Willis Insurance Brokers Co. Ltd., owned by the U.K.'s Willis Towers Watson PLC, to expand its business to all of China. In addition, France's Oney Bank SA has applied to set up a consumer finance JV with China's Bright Food (Group) Co., Ltd., and JPMorgan Chase & Co. has submitted an application to set up a foreign-funded securities firm in Shanghai, the office said. ICBC-AXA Assurance Co. Ltd., a JV between Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., China Minmetals Corp. and French-based Axa, has also secured an approval to establish an asset management unit.

On April 11, Governor of the People's Bank of China Yi Gang said that China will accelerate the opening-up of the financial sector.

Yi said that "in upcoming months," China would remove the foreign ownership cap for banks and asset management companies. The country would also lift the foreign ownership cap to 51% for securities companies, fund managers, futures companies and life insurers, and remove the cap in three years, Yi said. In addition, China would no longer require joint-funded securities companies to have at least one local securities company as a shareholder.