The ACE Group of Companies yesterday announced that a subsidiary of its Chinese partner Huatai Insurance Company, Huatai Life Insurance Company, received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to commence life insurance operations.

“Huatai is our partner in China, a rapidly developing and dynamic country, and we are pleased to receive a licence to conduct life insurance business,” ACE president and CEO Evan Greenburg said in a press release. “We have a life presence in China as the centrepiece of our life strategy in Asia. We have and will continue to provide management and technical support to ensure the success of Huatai Life.”

Huatai Insurance Company is headquartered in Beijing and has branches in 26 Chinese cities. ACE made a strategic investment in Huatai in 2002 and is its single largest shareholder.