The Bank of Beijing is in talks to buy half of ING's Chinese life insurance venture in Beijing. This would be its second acquisition in three months, the lender said yesterday.

The Bank of Beijing is negotiating for the Beijing Capital Group Co.'s 50-percent stake in ING Capital Life Insurance Co., the city commercial lender said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday.

ING Groep, the biggest Dutch financial-services firm, owns the other half of ING Capital Life.

The life insurer was established in 2002 and had 2 billion yuan (US$293 million) in premiums at the end of last year.

Bank of Beijing is partly owned by ING, which has another life insurer in Shanghai-ING Pacific Life.

There has long been market speculation that Beijing Capital has been trying to withdraw from the life insurer. It was reported earlier that the bank was also applying to buy a stake in ING Pacific.

Hans van der Noordaa, the chairman of ING's insurance and investment management Asia/Pacific, said over the weekend in Shanghai that the Dutch firm will keep expanding its insurance business in China, declining to comment on whether the firm will merge its two existing life insurers in the country.

The bank is seeking out more business to diversify income channels.

In July the Bank of Beijing won approval to buy 20 percent of the Langfang City Commercial Bank for 127.5 million yuan. The bank now has 131 branches in Beijing.

The Bank of Beijing said earlier this year it plans to set up a joint venture fund management company with the Bank of Nova Scotia.

(Shanghai Daily October 22, 2008)