Taipei, Oct 31: Taiwan's Cathay Life Insurance Co. plans to team up with a listed Chinese company to set up the island's first life insurance subsidiary in the mainland, it was reported here today. The Taiwanese Insurer, which signed an agreement with the Chinese company earlier this year, was expected to shoulder USD 48.31 million in the 50-50 joint venture, The Commercial Times said.
But the insurer declined to reveal the name of its partner or the location of the new unit due to the confidentiality of the deal, it added.
Cathay Life Insurance officials were not immediately available for comment.
Cathay already received the green light from Taiwan's finance ministry for the venture and was expected to apply for permission from Beijing authorities next month, the newspaper said. Under Chinese regulations, a qualified foreign applicant must register USD 5 billion in total assets with operations for a period of 30 years and must also have had a representative office in China for two years.

It also has to team up with a mainland firm for a 50-50 partnership.
If everything goes well, the deal could be approved in six months making Cathay to first local insurer to open a subsidiary on the mainland, the paper said. Bureau Report