Cathay Insurance Co yesterday became the first Taiwan-invested property and casualty insurer on the Chinese mainland to start business in Shanghai.

The non-life insurer plans to expand in the coastal areas including the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and the Bohai Bay region, said Longman Lin, general manager of the insurer.

He also said yesterday the company is expected to break even in four to five years.

The insurer will first target Taiwan-invested companies, then overseas-invested firms and finally mainland-based enterprises. It also plans to tap the market for individual clients after it has built a solid corporate client market, Lin said.

The Shanghai-based P&C insurer is an equally-owned joint venture by two Cathay Financial Holdings affiliates - Cathay Century Insurance and Cathay Life Insurance Co - with a registered capital of 400 million yuan (US$58.4 million).

Cathay Life has already set up a joint venture life insurance company on the mainland with Shanghai-based partner China Eastern Airlines.

The insurer applied to start business in May and got the approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission at the end of August.

(Shanghai Daily September 27, 2008)