HSBC Holdings hopes to make use of Hong Kong's preferential trade arrangements with China to set up a joint venture in China's insurance sector by the year end.

HSBC already has exposure to China's insurance sector through a 19.9 pct stake in Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China, but it wants greater control over its planned new investment to benefit from the mainland's fast-growing insurance industry.

The bank plans to make use of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement that China and Hong Kong signed in 2003 to develop a channel to sell insurance to China's growing middle class.