BEIJING, March 29 -- Shanghai-based Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co Ltd (MSL) is planning to move beyond supplying only individual life insurance coverage and expand its scope to include group insurance, bancassurance, as well as opening up more outlets throughout the country.

　　China's first joint venture insurer has already launched group insurance services aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing and Ningbo. The company plans to continue making group insurance a business focus this year.

　　Arthur Lin, company vice-president and general manager of the MSL Beijing branch, told China Daily that the insurer's target customers for the group insurance would be SMEs and foreign-funded companies.

　　"It is more difficult to evaluate large enterprises' group insurance risks. Moreover, they usually have had a steady co-operation with other insurers," Lin said.

　　"The quality, or rather scale, is our major concern," Lin said.

　　The 10-year-old company is also thinking about developing bancassurance, which is a challenging sector for the insurer.

　　"Bancassurance business has a big market but low profit margin," said Lin. "This is due to the dynamic competition between banks and insurers. If the insurance products sell well in the bank, the bank is likely to raise the commission. On the other hand, if the products sell badly, the insurer will go to another bank."

　　In addition to venturing into a new business sector, MSL is also speeding up its network expansion. The company got nine outlet licences last year and expects to have 20 licences total by the end of this year.

　　"The Yangtze Delta and Pearl River Delta were our major targets last year, and we are taking more efforts to explore the market in Sichuan, Shandong and Fujian provinces this year," said Lin.

　　MSL has got the licence to enter Sichuan Province from the regulatory authority, and the Sichuan branch is expected to start business in June, Lin added.

　　Thanks to the rapid expansion in the past two years, the insurer posted 700 million yuan (US$87.5 million) in total premium income in 2005, an increase of 17.5 per cent over the previous year.

　　The company's premium growth outpaced the market average in Shanghai last year, but lagged behind the rate posted by the city's foreign-invested insurers.

　　The joint venture insurer's Chinese parent company is China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company, a member of the State-owned chemical industry giant Sinochem Corporation. Manulife Financial holds a 51 per cent stake of MSL, while Sinochem holds the remainder.

　　MSL has entered into 12 cities in China, with additional applications being processed.

　　(Source: China Daily)