AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited - 12 October 2001 - AXA-Minmetals Assurance Company Limited is granted a sub-license by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission

AXA Asia Pacific announced today that the China Regulatory Commission, the Chinese insurance authority, informed the global AXA Group on 25 September 2001 that its life insurance joint-venture in Shanghai, AXA-Minmetals Assurance Co. Ltd., could start preparing the establishment of a branch company in one of the cities opened to foreign insurers.

“This is great news and an exciting development for AXA. Through its equity stake in the Chinese operation, and its management contribution, AXA APH is the leading Australian life insurer in this fast growing market. We are excited by this opportunity to expand further in the Chinese insurance market, which is predicted to grow by 20 per cent per annum over the next five years and will be one of the major world markets over the medium to long term”, according to Les Owen, AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Group Chief Executive.

This sub-license was granted to the AXA Group in accordance with the Sino-European Union Agreement on China's accession to the WTO signed on 19 May 2000.

AXA-Minmetals is a joint venture between AXA and China Minmetals Group. It already operates a life insurance business in Shanghai

AXA has been active in the Chinese market since 1989. Today, besides the operation in Shanghai, there are representative offices in Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Dalian.

“This new licence will strengthen our position in the Chinese market and is consistent with our strategy of concentrating on markets where the company is able to take a leading position within a reasonable time frame”, said Les Owen.

AXA is a worldwide leader in financial protection and wealth management. AXA’s operations are diverse geographically, with major operations in Western Europe, North America and the Asia/Pacific area. AXA had Euro 950 billion in assets under management as at June 30, 2001, shareholders equity of Euro 25.3 billion and investment portfolios totalling Euro 403 billion backing our reserves.

Enquiries:

Robin Burns
General Manager, Corporate Affairs
(03) 9616 3631
0413 085 443