China Will Not Crumble + Insurance in China

choi

(1) Steven Rattner, Will China Stumble? Don’t Bet on It. New York Times, Dec 3, 2011 (op-ed).
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/0 ... 0Rattner&st=cse
("Astonishingly, Chinese auto companies have the lowest share of their home market of any major country. So China has emphasized building products like ships, where brands don’t matter")

(2) Insurance in China | Growing Pains; Insurers are struggling in a potentially lucrative market. Economist, Dec 3, 2011.
http://www.economist.com/node/21541056

Quote:

"Another reason for the capital shortfall is that New China’s investments in domestic Chinese [stock market] shares have done badly.

"A report published on November 30th by another credit-rating agency, Moody’s, calculates that of the 47 foreign insurance outfits in China in 2010, only 11 made a profit (and even that was generally a meagre sum). The aggregate market share of firms with substantial foreign ownership is still below 5%. And recent months have seen New York Life leave the market, AXA and Sun Life reduce their ownership stakes in joint ventures and Standard Life attempt—in vain—to find a buyer for its local operation. Could this 'mark the beginning of a broader retreat'? asks Sally Yim, the report’s author.

"Taiwan also offers a ray of hope. Sam Radwan of Enhance International, an insurance consultancy, observes that while China and Taiwan both have extremely high rates of household savings, the former spends less than 4% of GDP on insurance while the latter spends a juicy 17%.