Another foreign wholly-owned insurance company has been established.

Recently, the Shanghai Financial Supervisory Authority approved Starr Indemnity & Liability Company's acquisition of a 0.78% stake in Starr Property & Casualty Insurance Company Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Starr P&C") from Shanghai Jinjiang International Investment Co., Ltd. With this transaction, Starr P&C has officially transformed from a joint venture insurance company into a foreign wholly-owned insurance company.

**Starr P&C Transforms into Foreign Wholly-Owned Entity**

According to the approval, Starr Indemnity was authorized to acquire 11.2 million shares held by Shanghai Jinjiang International Investment Co., Ltd., representing a 0.78% equity stake in Starr P&C.

Prior to this equity transfer, Starr Indemnity and Starr Insurance and Reinsurance Limited collectively held 99.22% of Starr P&C's shares. Both companies are subsidiaries of Starr International Limited (hereinafter referred to as "Starr International").

Following the approval of this equity transfer, Starr Indemnity now holds 1.146 billion shares of Starr P&C, representing an 80% stake, while Starr Insurance and Reinsurance Limited holds a 20% stake. Starr P&C has officially become a property insurance company wholly controlled by Starr International.

Starr P&C's predecessor was Dazhong Insurance, established in Shanghai in 1995. The company struggled with losses for many years after its establishment and began seeking capital injection in late 2009. Eventually, Greenberg's Starr company came into the shareholders' view.

Maurice R. Greenberg, who helmed American International Group Inc for 37 years and is known as the "insurance godfather," is also one of the most influential legendary figures in American business circles.

Starting from late 2009, Greenberg conducted multiple on-site inspections of Dazhong Insurance and performed due diligence. In May 2011, Starr Insurance and Reinsurance Company, a subsidiary of Starr International, invested 350 million yuan to acquire a 20% stake in Dazhong Insurance and obtained management rights.

Industry insiders analyzed that although Greenberg was not the major shareholder at the time, Dazhong Insurance's poor performance over many years created a realistic need for shareholders to involve professional insurance personnel in management and operations.

After Starr International took control of Dazhong Insurance, leveraging the technical advantages of the American Starr Group in engineering insurance, marine insurance, liability insurance, and accident insurance, the company vigorously developed non-auto insurance business. In recent years, Starr P&C has maintained steady profitability, though its overall scale remains relatively small. In 2024, the company achieved premium income of 1.035 billion yuan and net profit of 39.77 million yuan.

Meanwhile, as policies gradually opened up, Starr International has continuously acquired stakes in Starr P&C transferred by original shareholders in recent years, culminating in this complete equity acquisition. From Greenberg's initial investment in Dazhong Insurance in 2011 to the final establishment of a wholly foreign-owned property insurance company in 2025, the process spanned 14 years.

Starr P&C's transformation from a joint venture property insurance company to a foreign wholly-owned company represents a microcosm of foreign capital's new round of expansion in China's financial market and directly reflects China's financial industry's continued advancement of high-level opening-up.

According to statistics, besides Starr P&C, insurance companies that have transformed from joint ventures to foreign wholly-owned entities since 2019 include Allianz Life, HSBC Life, AXA Tianping P&C Insurance, and Generali China P&C Insurance, among others.

**Foreign Investment Layout "Blooming at Multiple Points"**

In recent years, with the implementation of policy dividends from the financial industry's expanded opening-up, foreign capital's new round of expansion in China's insurance market has moved from "testing the waters" to "running to enter" stage, with various business formats "blooming at multiple points."

In 2020, China's first foreign wholly-owned insurance holding company, Allianz (China) Insurance Holding Co., Ltd., officially opened for business; AIA Life officially completed its "branch-to-subsidiary" transformation, becoming the first foreign wholly-owned life insurance company in mainland China; and the first foreign-backed pension insurance company, Heng An Standard Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., was approved for establishment.

In September 2021, China's first foreign wholly-owned insurance asset management company, Allianz Insurance Asset Management Co., Ltd., officially opened in Beijing; in 2022, Allianz Life Insurance Co., Ltd. became China's first life insurance company to transform from joint venture to foreign wholly-owned.

In August 2023, Germany's ERGO Group and its affiliated enterprises were approved to increase their shareholding ratio in ERGO Dazhong Life Insurance Co., Ltd. from 50% to 65%, demonstrating ERGO Group's continued focus on the Chinese market and expansion of local business.

In October 2024, two foreign insurance institutions received consecutive approvals for establishment. The National Financial Regulatory Administration issued approvals, agreeing to Prudential Insurance Company of America's preparation to establish Prudential Insurance Asset Management Co., Ltd., and the formation of a preparatory group; and agreeing to AXA Group, Sichuan Yinmi Technology Co., Ltd., and Volkswagen Financial Services Overseas AG to prepare for the establishment of Beijing AXA Tianxing Property Insurance Co., Ltd.

In December 2024, the National Financial Regulatory Administration approved the change of National Pension's registered capital, adding Allianz Investment Co., Ltd. as a company shareholder with a 2% stake, making it National Pension's first foreign shareholder.

Recently, AIA Life and Aegon received approval to establish insurance asset management companies in Shanghai.

Li Yunze, Director of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, stated at the 2025 Lujiazui Forum that currently, 42 of the world's top 50 banks have established institutions in China, nearly half of the 40 largest insurance companies have entered China, and 80% of national banks have effectively enhanced corporate governance efficiency and operational management levels by introducing overseas strategic investors. Chinese and foreign institutions complement each other's advantages, developing through competition and cooperation, enriching institutional types and product services, and better meeting diversified financial needs.