Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Manulife has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open a Sales Office in Changzhou, its third city license in Jiangsu Province, and a Sales Office in Deyang, its second city in Sichuan province.

Manulife-Sinochem is now licensed in 19 cities across China, with plans for further national expansion throughout the year.

On January 22, Manulife-Sinochem welcomed Jim Flaherty, Canada’s Minister of Finance to its Shanghai headquarters to thank him for the loyal support of the Canadian government.

“The Canadian and Chinese governments have been very helpful to Manulife as we’ve developed our business in China over the past 10 years,” said Marc Sterling, chairman of Manulife-Sinochem. “Manulife-Sinochem’s success is a true testament to the strong relations between Canada and China, as well as between Manulife and our Chinese joint-venture partner, Sinochem Corporation. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Flaherty for the Canadian government’s unwavering support of our growth and development in this country.”

“It is in the interest of both countries to see Canadian and Chinese expertise coming together to offer innovative financial products and services to the Chinese people,” said Flaherty.

Changzhou and Deyang, both economically prosperous cities in China, are markets that offer tremendous potential for Manulife-Sinochem.

Manulife-Sinochem expects to commence business in Changzhou in February 2007. The opening of the Deyang sales office, planned for early April, follows on the opening of the Sichuan branch office in Chengdu in August 2006.

Changzhou is a developing industrial city boasting a modern-day style and an economy that has experienced rapid development.

Deyang, an important industrial city in the Chengdu Plain, is known as a national experimental city for comprehensive system reform and an important part of the new and hi-tech industrial belt along the line of Chengdu-Deyang- Mianyang. The city is also an important national manufacturing base for major technical equipment and is one of the areas that is most worthy of investment in Western China. The life insurance industry is experiencing a healthy development in Deyang, which presents good opportunities for all joint venture life insurers.

Manulife-Sinochem is a joint venture company between Manulife (International) Limited (51%) and China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company, a member of the Sinochem group (49%).