American International Group has been granted a licence to sell life insurance in Beijing.

The move makes AIG the first foreign insurer allowed to do business in the Chinese capital. The group is expected to obtain licences in three other cities including Shanghai, the city in which the group was first founded in 1919.

Meanwhile China’s state-owned insurer, The People’s Insurance Company of China, has announced the opening of a representative office in New York. The office will organise insurance for Chinese firms with interests in the US. There is also an opportunity for PICC to capitalise on opportunities in the US Chinese community.