China Direct

CBI member Prudential has strong first Quarter in Asia Pacific

 

CBI member Prudential recently released its results for the first quarter of 2013, reporting continued and profitable growth in Asia.

Prudential's Asia new business profit increased by 18% to £308 million, driven by higher sales of savings and protection products to the growing Asian middle class and a more favourable geographic mix that primarily reflects strong growth in its core markets in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and deliberate reduction in Taiwan.

Prudential's two largest businesses in Asia, Indonesia and Hong Kong, had a particularly strong quarter, with profitable volume growth driven primarily by increased levels of agent activation in both markets and additionally, in Hong Kong, the benefit of improved case sizes.

In addition, CITIC-Prudential in China had an excellent start to the year with Prudential's 50 per cent share of APE up 59 per cent to £27 million. This delivered an all-time record in terms of new business profits. Both the bank and agency channels have performed well, with particularly encouraging results
from CITIC Bank.

Please click here to read the full results for Prudential.

CBI China Member Success Stories April 2013

 

Dear Members,

Kindly find our April 2013 summary of CBI members in China that have recently highlighted a business successs.

Member companies mentioned include:

• Arup
• Atkins
• Bentley Motors
• The Blackstone Group
• BP
• British Airways
• Burberry
• Clifford Chance
• DLA Piper
• Ericsson
• Eversheds
• Ford Motor Company
• Fuji Xerox
• GKN
• Harvey Nash
• HSBC
• Infineum
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
• Marks & Spencer (M&S)
• Norton Rose
• Philips
• Pinewood Shepperton
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
• Rio Tinto
• SABMiller
• The Scotch Whisky Association
• Siemens
• Standard Chartered
• UBM
• Unilever
• The University of Birmingham
• The University of Nottingham

Please download the full summary below:

Download CBI China Celebrating CBI member success in China April 2013

 

British Business in China - 2013 Business Confidence Survey - your voice matters

 

Dear CBI members,

The CBBC and BCC have just launched The 2013 Business Climate Survey, which is now live here.

The CBI is proud to be a partner for this important initiative along with The British Chamber Shanghai, The British Chamber Guangdong and The British Chamber South West China.

This extensive partnership network will help us gain a comprehensive and informed set of important viewpoints and issues of British business from across China and the UK.

The survey will takes about 20 minutes to complete online and will be open until 19^th April with the results published in early June. There are also prizes available through a prize draw that you can enter at the end of the survey.

Please also click here to take the survey.

Thank you very much for your participation - your voice matters.

Willis opens 22nd office in Harbin, China

 

[Image courtesy of www.willis.com]

Yesterday, CBI member Willis announced that it received approval from the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open a new office in Harbin, marking a first for a foreign broker and Willis' 22nd office in China.

Willis China's Harbin office will be the broker's second new branch to open in 2012, following the launch of its office in Chongqing earlier this year.

Mitchell Ma, CEO of Willis China, said, "We are very proud to announce the strengthening of our network by opening this new office—our second in the North East—in one of the fastest-growing regions in the world.

"We look forward to working together with our insurance industry peers in the North East including the CIRC, for whose support we are most grateful, to help facilitate the growth and protection of companies in Heilongjiang through the provision of local risk management services backed by the global expertise of Willis Group."

Please click here to read the full press release by Willis.

CBI Member Success Stories March 2012

 

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

A number of CBI members were busy raising their profile in China in March, engaging in many exciting activities across a wide range of industries.

Members covered include: 

• 3i
• ABB
• Atkins
• Bentley
• Boeing
• BNY Mellon
• BP
• Burson-Marsteller
• Clifford Chance
• Diageo
• Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
• Fuji Xerox
• GKN
• HSBC
• INEOS
• InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)
• Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)
• Jones Lang LaSalle
• J.P. Morgan
• Nike
• Pearson
• Penguin
• Pinsent Masons
• Procter & Gamble
• Research in Motion (RIM)
• Shell
• Siemens
• Simmons & Simmons
• Thales
• Unilever
• University of Nottingham
• Willis

Please click here to access our latest briefing, which highlights the recent successes of 32 CBI members.

The briefing can also be accessed below:

Download CBI China, Celebrating CBI member success in China, March 2012

UK Company Willis to be first global broker to open in Chongqing

 

[Image courtesy of www.willis.com]

CBI member Willis recently announced that the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) granted it approval to open a new office in Chongqing in southwestern China, marking a first for a foreign-owned broker and Willis' 21st office in the country.

Commenting on the new office, Willis China CEO Mitchell Ma said, "As Chongqing, and indeed China, continue to grow at pace, so too do the risk management requirements of their commercial sectors. This move will enable us to be close to our clients and markets so that we can fully understand their challenges and provide them with the best quality services, backed by Willis' global resources.

"We are proud to open an office in this very important city and appreciate the support that we have had from CIRC in approving our application. In return, we will do our best to bring added value and new services to Chongqing to play our part in the further development of the regional insurance market."

Willis, which has the largest branch network of any international broker in China, employs 330 Associates specialising in offering risk management and insurance services to medium- and large-sized enterprises in China.

Please click here to read the full press release by Willis.

Celebrating UK and international CBI member success in China: Nov 2011

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

Dear China Direct readers, 

Kindly find more than 25 examples of UK and international CBI member companies that are celebrating business success in China in November 2011.

Download CBI China, Celebrating member success in China, November 2011

This will mark the 300th entry since China Direct went live back in June 2009.

Please let the CBI team in Beijing ([email protected] tel: 00 86 10 85253100) know if your company would like to share your China business news with the CBI's international member network.

Many thanks.

UK-China 2011Trade Statistics - room for improvement

[Image courtesy of www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk]

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) in Beijing has kindly prepared an overview of the latest UK-China trade and investment statistics.

Highlights include:

UK imports of goods from China (Jan-Aug 2011): £18.6 billion.

UK exports of goods to China: £5.5 billion.

Total trade volume of goods between China and the UK: £24.1 billion. 

Total 2010 UK-China trade volume in services: £3.374 billion.

The UK exported £2.131 billion worth of services to China.

China exported £1.243 billion worth of services to the UK.

UK was China's top source of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the EU in 2010.

The UK's FDI into China reached $1.62 billion in 2010, up 10% over the previous year. 

The UK was the fourth largest destination for China's direct investment in the EU in 2010.

China's outbound foreign direct investment in the UK reached  $330.33 million in 2010.

As of the end of August 2011, there were eight Chinese companies listed on the LSE main market, with a total market value of £15.6 billion.

There were 43 Chinese companies listed on the LSE AIM, with a total market capitalisation of £3.5 billion.

Please click here to read the full overview by UKTI.

CBI Director General upbeat about UK-China trade prospects

[Image courtesy of www.cbi.org.uk]

CBI Director General John Cridland CBE was interviewed by the Global Times during his recent visit to China.

Despite the challenging economic environment there are huge opportunities for UK business to increase its trade with China.

John Cridland shares his thoughts on UK business in China, opportunities for Chinese Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to the UK and highlights the outstanding success of CBI members Intercontinental Hotels Group and Jaguar Land Rover in China.

Please click here for the interview, published today in the Global Times newspaper.

 

 

   

Sun Alliance Insurance China continues to shine in Nanjing

 

 

[Image courtesy of www.rsagroup.com.cn]

Leading global insurer and CBI member RSA recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary in China, Sun Alliance Insurance (China) Limited, has obtained approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open a branch office in the city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.

The Nanjing branch office is RSA's second branch in China. RSA China is headquartered in Shanghai and also has a branch office in Beijing.

Commenting on the regulatory approval for the Nanjing branch office, Stuart Purdy, CEO of RSA Asia & Middle East, said, "This approval is a major milestone for RSA as we expand our reach across Eastern China and it will provide a strong platform for future growth."

Greg Otterson, CEO of RSA China, said, "This is fantastic news for our business in China and represents a significant opportunity for RSA, with Jiangsu as one of the largest non-life insurance markets in the country. We will now be able to provide a full range of RSA products to customers across the province from our base in its capital, Nanjing."

Please click here to read the full English-language press release by RSA and here for the Chinese-language version.