Chang Jiang Pension Co, a Shanghai -based insurer aiming to take over the 15 billion yuan enterprises annuity, has received the go-ahead from the industry regulator on its set-up.

The new insurer, with a registered capital of 500 million yuan, will be set up by 11 companies, most of them being local State-owned enterprises. Its largest share-holder is Shanghai International Group.

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Ma Li will head the new company. She used to be vice-president of the Pudong Development Bank.

Chang Jiang Pension will now have to get the approval of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) and a license from the Ministry of Labor and Securities to run the business.

According to a rule published by the labor ministry last September, China will transfer $9.1 billion in company pension plans to selected fund managers by the end of this year.

Liu Yongfu, vice-minister for labour and social securities, said the country's company pensions market was valued at about 90 billion yuan at the end of last year, of which 20 billion yuan has already been transferred to fund managers.

All company pension plans rolled out in the future will be handled by fund professionals, he added.

However, due to the complicated examination and approval process, the ministry has only issued licenses to 37 institutions since 2004, among which four are joint-ventures, including Harvest Fund Management, 19.5 percent owned by Deutsche Bank, and China Merchants Fund Management, in which ING holds 30 percent.

But Liu Yongfu said at a forum last month that they are going to hold a meeting this month to discuss whether to expand or adjust the list.

Meanwhile, the government is also going to gradually expand the scope for insurers to invest directly in stocks, Wu Dingfu, chairman of the CIRC said at a conference on Thursday.

China is allowing pension funds and insurers bigger access to stocks to help boost returns. The benchmark CSI 300 Index gained 121 percent last year.

Preparations are under way to lift a ceiling that limits insurers' direct investment in the stock market to 5 percent of assets, and progress will be made according to the needs of insurance firms, Wu said, declining to provide a timeline or further details.

(China Daily 04/14/2007 page10)

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