CIGNA Corporation has been the first foreign insurance company to be allowed to do this since China's entry into the World Trade Organization, sources with CIRC say.

It has chosen a company affiliated to the China Merchants Groupas its partner and Shenzhen as the location of the joint venture.

CIGNA, one of the top 500 foreign financial companies, has high expectations of Shenzhen because of the city's thriving economy, satisfactory GDP and favorable investment policies, said an official from the CIGNA Beijing representative office.

The joint venture will focus on life insurance, accident insurance and supplementary medical insurance products.

So far, over 20 foreign insurance companies have been granted permission to conduct business on the Chinese mainland and over 100 foreign insurance companies have set up representative offices on the mainland, in anticipation of entering China's insurance market.

(People's Daily September 28, 2002)