Foreign life insurers seek niche market share

It's almost a consensus that China is a huge market for insurance companies, but the general manager of Taiping Life Insurance Co Ltd said it's just that wish to gain a big market share in China that prevents the development of many insurance companies.

Zheng Ronglu, Taiping Life's general manager, said insurance companies' expectations for the Chinese market were too high at the beginning and did not pan out in reality.

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Shareholders and management teams differ in opinions, and that's why there is not a joint venture insurance company that has performed well in China in the last decade, he added.

"It is really difficult for foreign insurance companies to compete with major players in China, like China Life and Taiping, so we have to find a niche market," said Renzo Isler, general manager of Generali China Life Insurance Co Ltd, at the 19th Annual Strategic Issues Conference, held Thursday-Friday in Beijing. Isler said his company's group business has become highly competitive.

Although foreign life insurance companies have not gained much of the domain of domestic insurers nationwide, in key cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, they have posed a challenge, Kumjoo Huh, head of Global Business at South Korea’s Kyobo Life Insurance Co Ltd, said at the conference.

Foreign life insurers had a market share of 5.6 percent in the country in 2010, but they gained a market share of 20 percent in Beijing and a 20.5 percent in Shanghai last year, according to data provided by Huh.

[Source: Kyobo Life Insurance Co Ltd]