Dutch banking and insurance group ING Group N.V. (ING) announced on Wednesday that both its China insurance ventures, ING Capital Life Insurance Company (ING Capital) and Pacific Antai Life Insurance Company (Pacific Antai), have been given approval from the country's insurance regulator to establish new branches.

When implemented, ING will operate in 20 Chinese mainland cities, of which 14 support insurance operations.

"We are excited to receive approvals for both Anhui and Jiangsu provinces on the same day," said Jacques Kemp, CEO of ING Insurance Asia Pacific. "With our established insurance operations in neighboring provinces in China, we hope that the two approvals will be able to leverage ING's existing expertise to fast-track expansion."

The Dalian-headquartered ING Capital, a joint venture of ING and Beijing Capital Group, will open a new branch in east China's Anhui Province.

Pacific Antai, a Shanghai-based joint-venture of ING and China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., will set up another branch in neighboring Jiangsu Province.

The two outlets will sell insurance to the 11 million inhabitants in Hefei and Nanjing, the respective capitals of the two provinces.

The licenses will also automatically allow ING to apply to the local Jiangsu and Anhui insurance regulatory offices to open sub-branches. This will broaden the two joint ventures reach to an estimated 140 million people in the two provinces, according to the company.