ALLIANZ China Life will boost its registered capital 82 percent to fuel expansion.　
　
The insurer, a 50-50 joint venture between Germany's Allianz and CITIC Trust & Investment Co, has gained approval to raise its capital to one billion yuan (US$130 million) from 550 million yuan.

The partners' stake structure will remain unchanged. The insurer has big ambitions to deepen its roots in China's life insurance market. It plans to expand its operations and offer more financial protection products this year. The insurer has also shifted to a bigger office in its Shanghai headquarters to accommodate its growing staff.

Allianz China Life now operates in Shanghai and 14 cities in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Sichuan provinces. The company's "multi-distribution mode" plays an important role in its growth plans and makes use of agent teams, banks, brokers, intermediaries and direct sales.

Premiums for the Shanghai-based insurer more than quadrupled to 1.2 billion yuan last year. The income pushed Allianz China Life to become the fourth-biggest among foreign-funded insurers in China, up from its former No. 8 position.

The insurer, set up in January 1999, has more than 4,000 agents, 1,000 bank outlets and 28 sales service centers in China.