NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer by assets, received regulatory approval for a branch in Beijing to expand sales to manufacturers.

The Beijing location is the first opened under a subsidiary set up in Shanghai in September, the New York-based insurer said in a statement yesterday. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission granted the approval.

Chief executive Robert Willumstad is expanding coverage of Chinese businesses to complement the New York-based company's sales of life insurance in the country. AIG's life business is about ten times the size of its other insurance operations in China, company spokesman Chris Winans said.

"We are very excited to have the opportunity to play a larger role in the economic growth of China," Willumstad said in the statement. The Chinese economy has expanded at least 10 percent for five consecutive years.

AIG traces its roots to China, where its earliest predecessor companies were founded by Cornelius Vander Starr in Shanghai in 1919. AIG received a licence to sell life and general insurance in China in 1992. The insurer in April projected operating profit from life insurance and retirement services outside the US to climb about 88 percent by 2012 on growth in countries including China.