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Major mainland Chinese insurer Ping An Insurance and China Eastern Air Holding, one of the top civil aviation firms in the country, have signed a strategic co-operation agreement, according to official sources.
According to an announcement filed to the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission earlier this week, the two firms will work together on various projects, such as business travel services, insurance, finance, and property.
The notice also added that the two firms will explore opportunities in customer resources, marketing, customer service, real estate, and new technologies such as a cloud-based ecosystem, financial credit, and payment.
“We are currently studying the possibilities of a mixed ownership reform,” Sheng Ruisheng, board secretary of Ping An, told China Daily. Sheng did not expound further on the development.
Ping An was ranked as the most valuable insurance brand in the world for 2017 by Forbes, while China Eastern Air is the seventh-largest airline in the world with a fleet of 453 aircraft as of June 2016.
“The two parties come from aviation and insurance, which are two complete different industries, so their co-operation is targeting China's consumption upgrade, amid which they can benefit from the surging demand for traveling service and financial service,” said Li Lei, industrial analyst at Minzu Securities.
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