UK insurer Standard Life and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) have signed an agreement to work together to identify opportunities for the benefit of both businesses in China, Hong Kong and the UK.

UK insurer Standard Life and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) have signed an agreement to work together to identify opportunities for the benefit of both businesses in China, Hong Kong and the UK.

Standard Life said in a statement that the businesses will “work together to focus on developing broader co-operation in the areas of savings and investment solutions”. 

ICBC already has a long-standing relationship with Standard Life’s joint venture in China, Heng An Standard Life, in which it has a 50 per cent stake.

The agreement will also promote sharing of knowledge and expertise through regular senior executive interaction.

“We are delighted to be working so closely with ICBC, one of the world’s largest banks and a key player in the Chinese savings market. Standard Life is committed to the Asian market and focused on deepening our reach in the region,” said Sandy Begbie, chief operating officer at Standard Life.

Western banks have already entered a number of alliance and partnerships with Chinese Mainland banks, of varying degrees of intensity. For example, Bank of China and Julius Baer recently brought out a joint report examining trends in the luxury market in Asia. (See here.) This forms part of a strategic partnership between the Swiss bank and BoC, agreed in 2012. While China has to some extent been liberalising its financial and capital markets, joint ventures are required for non-domestic players to undertake certain types of commercial activity in the Asian giant.