After receiving authorization from the Chinese authorities, Samsung Air China Life, a joint venture of Samsung Life Insurance in China, welcomed the Bank of China, the fourth-largest bank in China, as a new shareholder, and changed the company name to Samsung Bank China Life, making a new start.
Samsung Life Insurance announced on Oct. 21 that it held an inauguration ceremony of the new joint company at the Bank of China headquarters in Beijing, China, and started the operation in earnest.
With total assets of 2.500 quadrillion won (US$2.2 trillion) and net profits of 29 trillion won (US$25.48 billion) as of 2014, the Bank of China is the fourth-largest bank in China in terms of total assets. Thanks to the establishment of the new joint venture, Samsung Life Insurance is set to operate life insurance businesses all over China. The Chinese life insurance market was worth US$177 billion (201.43 trillion won) of premium income last year, the fourth largest in the world.
An official from Samsung Life Insurance said, “With the joint deal with the Bank of China, the company has secured a new growth engine in China, the largest sales channel of Bancassurance. Through synergy with the Bank of China, we are planning to target the Chinese life insurance market, which is growing fast, in earnest.”