Prudential Financial approved for China Life Insurance

(Reuters) - U.S. financial group Prudential Financial (PRU.N) has received regulatory approval to set up a life insurance venture in China with a unit of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group, accessing the country's 1 trillion yuan ($156 billion) life insurance market.

Prudential Financial and Shanghai Fosun Industrial Technology Development Co would set up the venture within the next 12 months, with Prudential's stake capped at 50 percent, in line with regulations, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CSRC) said in a statement on its website.

So far, 28 foreign companies, including HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L)(0005.HK), Axa SA (AXAF.PA) and Allianz (ALVG.DE) have entered China's fast-growing, but competitive life insurance market, which is currently dominated by domestic giants China Life (2628.HK)(601628.SS) and Ping An (2318.HK)(601318.SS).

The venture marks the second cooperation between Prudential Financial and Fosun within less than a year, and is the latest move by Fosun to expand into the financial industry.

Prudential Financial announced in January that it would invest $500 million in a private equity fund to be managed by Fosun, representing the biggest third-party investment by the U.S. insurer in its 135-year history.

Fosun, whose businesses range from pharmaceutical to retail and media, has also formed a private equity venture with U.S. buyout firm the Carlyle Group, as it steps up expansion into the financial industry.

($1 = 6.397 Chinese Yuan)

(Reporting by Samuel Shen and Jacqueline Wong)

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