The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (the CIRC) has granted Lloyd’s China a licence to write direct insurance. This is in addition to Lloyd’s China’s existing reinsurance licence (granted in March 2007). The announcement was made by Lord Levene, chairman of Lloyd’s, on 19 May 2010 at the UK Pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Lloyd’s will now begin work on making its new direct licence operational, a process that Lloyd’s suggests may take up to a year and will involve converting Lloyd’s Reinsurance Company (China) Ltd into a direct insurance company. Lloyd’s, in making its new direct licence operational, intends to work closely with the Chinese insurance market, the CIRC and other Chinese authorities to ensure its direct operation complies with the relevant regulations in China.