ING Capital Life Insurance Company Limited (ING Capital Life), a Sino-Dutch joint venture, on Wednesday announced the opening of a branch in central China's Henan Province.

"Henan has distinct population, transportation and resource advantages. The establishment of this branch underlies ING's commitment to expanding its footprint in China," said Ewout Steenbergen, Regional General Manager of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific at the branch's opening ceremony Tuesday.

ING Capital Life is the first Sino-foreign joint-venture insurance company to begin operations in the province, which is China's most populated province and fifth-largest in terms of gross domestic product(GDP).

ING Capital Life is the Netherlands-based ING Group N.V.'s insurance joint venture set up in June 2002, with Beijing Capital Group, a state-owned giant in financial and real estate sectors.

Headquartered in northeast China's Liaoning Province, ING Capital Life now has branch offices in Beijing and Shandong Province, operating in 17 Chinese cities.

By the end of this June, there were 45 foreign insurance companies from 15 countries and regions operating in China, making up 4.56 percent of the nation's total insurance assets, according to a recently published report on 24 foreign insurance companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2007)