Manulife-Sinochem Expands Again in China

Receives license approvals for Jinhua City and five additional satellite offices across three provinces

TORONTO , Dec. 10 /CNW/ - Manulife Financial today announced that it is expanding again in China , with confirmation that Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd. has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to operate in the city of Jinhua and has also been granted licenses for five additional satellite offices across three provinces. With this approval, Manulife-Sinochem is now licensed in 39 cities that are home to more than 280 million individuals.

The new insurance licenses were granted shortly after a visit to China by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada's Minister of International Trade on the heels of Manulife's recent announcement that it will enter and expand in China's fast growing wealth and asset management market, through its acquisition of a 49 per cent interest in ABN AMRO TEDA.

Manulife Financial President and CEO Donald Guloien said, "We are grateful for the continued strong support from our excellent Chinese partners and from the Canadian and Chinese governments as we continue to expand our presence in this very important and fast growing insurance and wealth and asset management market."

The new Jinhua insurance sales license will expand Manulife-Sinochem's operational presence in China to 39 cities across 11 provinces. Jinhua has a population of 4.6 million and is located in Zhejiang province. It is a communications centre in southeast China between coastal and inland areas and one of the major hubs of land transportation in the country.

The five newly approved satellite offices are located in Fujian province, Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and three in Zhejiang province. The new satellite offices provide an even greater sales presence where Manulife already has licensed offices.

Manulife-Sinochem Chairman, Marc Sterling added, "The granting of these six new licenses is a very welcome step forward for Manulife-Sinochem as we continue to expand to serve China's fast growing insurance needs."

Manulife-Sinochem currently has more than 11,000 professionally trained staff and agents serving over 450,000 customers across China . The recently announced Manulife TEDA joint venture will provide wealth and asset management services to a current base of over 1 million customers.

About Manulife-Sinochem

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

Manulife-Sinochem can be found on the internet at www.manulife-sinochem.com.

About Sinochem

China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company (FOTIC) is a core enterprise of Sinochem. Sinochem, founded in 1950, is one of the biggest foreign trading companies in China . Since 1989, Sinochem has topped the list of the country's 500 leading foreign trading companies and has also been recognized as a Fortune 500 company for 17 consecutive years.

Sinochem can be found on the Internet at www.sinochem.com.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States , the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$437 billion (US$407 billion) as at September 30, 2009 .

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

For further information: Media Contact: David Paterson, Manulife Financial, [phone], [email protected]; Laurie Lupton, Manulife Financial, [phone], [email protected]; Lillian Li, Director, PR & Branding Dept., Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co., Ltd., Tel.: [phone] ext. 8609, Fax: [phone], [email protected]