Korean Re has completed the establishment of a branch office in Shanghai as the company received final approval from the authorities of the People’s Republic of China on Dec. 27, 2019.
The new office in Shanghai will be Korean Re’s second representation in China, after its Beijing liaison office, which was launched in 1997. While the office in Beijing has been focused on market research and support functions, the office in Shanghai will be the center for real business activities in the country, said Korean Re in a statement.
Korean Re’s Beijing office is “part of its strategic initiative to strengthen [its] presence in China to capitalize on the country’s rapidly growing insurance market,” the company said.
“The Shanghai branch will help us build a robust foundation for stronger presence in this giant market of China,” explained CEO Jong-Gyu Won.
As the world’s second-largest insurance market and the biggest market in the Asia Pacific region, China has plenty of opportunities for further growth, generating US$570 billion in gross written premiums in 2018, which was up 3.92% from 2017, accounting for 11.6% of the total global production.
Currently, Korean Re said, reinsurers such as Hannover Re, RGA and Gen Re as well as many global insurers have local businesses in Shanghai, China’s financial hub. Korean Re said this is why it expects that the Shanghai operation “will bring increased access to the country’s vast pool of quality contracts.”
Along with its presence in Shanghai, Korean Re will have 11 offshore representations around the globe: four branches, three legal vehicles and four liaison offices.
“Going global” has been one of the key priorities for the company’s CEO since he took office in 2013. After the successful launch of a legal entity at Lloyd’s in the U.K. (2015), a branch office in Labuan, Malaysia (2017), a branch in Dubai (2018), a reinsurance subsidiary in Zurich (2019), Korean Re is now preparing to open a liaison office in Bogota, Columbia to expand into Latin America and the Caribbean region in 2020.
Source: Korean Re
Topics China
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