Zurich gets go-ahead for branch
By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-23 09:04
Zurich Financial Services Group, a leading global insurance company, has
received approval from the regulatory authority to run a property and casualty
branch in Beijing, becoming the first foreign insurer to establish a general
insurance branch in the capital.
"We would adopt a very focused strategy
in China, being selective in our target customers, sales channel and products,"
Zhang XueJiang, general manager of the Zurich Insurance Company Beijing branch,
told China Daily in an exclusive interview yesterday.
The new branch will
mainly target corporate customers, including foreign customers with activities
in China and large- and medium-sized enterprises from China, particularly those
with business overseas.
Around two-thirds of Zurich's global customers
are Fortune 500 companies, and quite a number of them are moving their
manufacturing workshops to China.
The opening of the Beijing branch is
in line with the firm's philosophy to serve customers wherever they may do
business, said Martin South, CEO of the international business division of
Zurich Financial Services.
Meanwhile, direct sells and insurance brokers
are Zurich's two major marketing channels, in line with the company's
customer-based strategy, said Zhang. "Different from other insurers that are
products-oriented, Zurich focuses on customers and develops products to cater
for their changing demands."
For instance, as more and more Chinese
enterprises try to float their shares on the Hong Kong and overseas bourses,
Zurich plans to provide director and officer's liability insurance to these
companies.
According to Zhang, the main challenge facing the Zurich
Beijing branch is the shortage of high-end talent such as senior actuaries and
underwriters. Some employees of the Zurich Beijing branch are from Zurich Taiwan
and Zurich Hong Kong, but Zhang said the company would train more local
talent.
Zurich entered China's mainland in 1993, and has two
representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai.
"As there are more large
enterprises headquartered in Beijing than that in Shanghai, we decided to set up
our first branch company in the capital city instead of Shanghai," Zhang
explained.
As one of the fastest growing cities in China, Beijing saw an
11.1 per cent growth in gross domestic product in 2005. By the end of 2004, 185
of the global Fortune 500 companies had invested in the city, creating a growing
demand for general and specialized insurance services.
As proof, the
insurance market in the national capital rebounded by a big margin last year
with gross premium earnings of Beijing's insurers reaching 49.8 billion yuan
(US$6.2 billion), a growth of 78.4 per cent on 2004.
"We are quite
optimistic about the future of China's insurance sector and believe the industry
will maintain a double-digit growth in the next five years," said South.
According to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, property and
casualty insurance is the fastest growing segment of the
industry.
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