Under the agreement, PICC will provide commercial insurance and insurance risk evaluation services for China Development Bank, and the bank will provide financing service for PICC.

The two sides also agree to share each other's client information and improve personnel training.

Tang Yunxiang, general manager of PICC, said: "The accelerated pace of economic globalization and China's accession to the World Trade Organization have provided enormous chances for the development of China's financial industry."

The co-operation between insurance companies and banks will help both sectors improve their business operations and their competitive edge, Tang said.

He said PICC has already signed similar co-operation agreements with China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China.

At present, PICC provides non-life insurance worth about 9,500 billion yuan (US$1,144.5 billion), accounting for 73.5 per cent of the country's total.

Chen Yuan, president of China Development Bank, said the co-operation will be an excellent deal between two strong financial institutions.

As one of the country's policy banks, the China Development Bank mainly focuses on funding construction of infrastructure projects, basic industries, pillar industries and high and new technology industries, Chen said.

(China Daily September 6, 2002)