Liberty Mutual to open Beijing branch
Liberty Mutual Group won approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to open a Beijing branch of its subsidiary Liberty Insurance Company Limited (LICL), the company announced today.
Liberty Mutual Group Chairman, President and CEO Edmund F. Kelly attributed the commission's approval to the support of the Chongqing mayor and city government. The Boston-based insurance group has “significantly increased” its presence in Asia over the past four years, Kelly said in a release.
Liberty Mutual opened its first office in China in 1996 in Shanghai. In December 2003, the company became the first foreign property and casualty insurer in western China after it received permission for an office in Chongqing. In September 2007, the Chongqing office got approval to convert into a wholly-owned subsidiary, which is now LICL, making it the only Fortune 500 company subsidiary headquartered in Chongqing, the company said. Liberty Mutual Group employs more than 41,000 people in 900 offices worldwide.
(By Elizabeth Campbell, Globe correspondent)
