Having entered a new phase of development, Huatai Insurance, one of China's major property insurers, is moving steadily towards its target of restructuring into an insurance group.

After its asset management subsidiary won regulatory approval to commence business earlier this month, the company is expected to unveil its life insurance arm in the first quarter of 2005.

The company's life insurance subsidiary has completed preparations and applied to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), the industry's watchdog, for approval to become operational, said Wang Zimu, chairman and chief executive officer of Huatai.

"We are expecting it (the approval) no later than March," Wang told reporters yesterday.

Regulatory approval for the asset management firm and life insurance arm have made Huatai the de facto first Chinese insurer with subsidiaries involved in all three areas of the industry: life insurance, property insurance and insurance asset management.

The next step, Wang said, is to spin off Huatai's property insurance operations to set up a property insurance subsidiary, before the company is restructured.

But the company currently has no timetable for this, he said.

Wang said his company has no immediate plans to list on the stock market, adding that the firm already has a sound governance structure and ample capital, so an impending initial public offering is unnecessary.

"Although, we have not given up our listing plans," he said. "But do we have a plan to list this year or next? No."

The reason for restructuring into a group company is not to pursue a bigger market share, but to establish a solid base for Huatai's future development in China's increasingly competitive insurance market, Wang said.

And the company is well prepared for the move. "We have very strong capital strength," he said, citing Huatai's 1.33 billion yuan (US$160 million) in shareholder equity.

With relatively small underwriting operations - the company's premiums stood at 1 billion yuan (US$120 million) last year - Huatai's solvency margin now stands at 13.8 times that of the minimum regulatory requirement, one of the highest among all Chinese insurers.

"And we are much more mature than we were few years ago," Wang said, given the progress of the company's strategic reform that started in 2003.

After suffering a few years of underwriting losses, Huatai initiated its strategic reform in 2003, suspending high-risk operations such as auto loan insurance, halting the expansion of branches, and trimming the workforce.

Substantial improvements were achieved last year. Premiums rose 22.85 percent year-on-year in 2004 to 1 billion yuan (US$120 million), while underwriting quality also improved significantly - with the combined ratio, or losses and expenses divided by premiums, standing at a robust 91 percent.

The company also chalked up a 1.7 percent return on investments last year, the lowest in its history but the highest last year among Chinese insurers, many of which suffered heavy losses amid the protracted weakness of the capital market.

(China Daily January 27, 2005)