(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-03-29 10:02

LONDON - China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation Limited (China Re), the only state-owned reinsurance company in China, is trying to explore the world reinsurance market with London as its bridgehead.

At a ceremony on Friday to mark the opening of its London Representative Office, Liu Jingsheng, Chairman of China Re, said that China Re Group's office in London "will provide us the solid foundation to further explore and exploit the potentials for our future growth in the London market and the Continental European Markets."

Being one of the leading reinsurers in the fast growing global economy, Liu said that China Re "is looking forward to expand our position beyond China."

Liu said that the reason for its London office establishment is that London is the leading international insurance and reinsurance center and possesses a world-class reputation for its financial infrastructure and advanced management capacity.

The Chinese reinsurance giant has set its long-term development strategy as a China-based group to lead the industry in Asia and eventually explore its markets share worldwide.

Apart from reinsurance, Liu said, China Re is also seeking to expand its business in primary insurance and asset management.

The group, with a total assets of 89.1 billion Yuan (about 6.4 billion Pounds), China Re Group is planning for further expansion through IPO in Shanghai and HK later this year.

China Re, a relative new name in the global market, is originated from the People's Insurance Company of China (Known as PICC) with 59 years of history and it has its presence in London over 30 years, under different names.

In 1996, PICC Reinsurance Company Ltd was established from the Reinsurance Department of PICC and the company was successfully reformed further into China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation in October 2007.