As the world's second-largest economy, China's modernization offers many opportunities for foreign companies around the world, including ours.

At Manulife, we recognize the importance of China and Asia to Manulife's global business, having sold our first policy in Shanghai in 1897. Since then, we've celebrated the 26th anniversary of Manulife-Sinochem, the first foreign joint venture life insurance company in China.

In those 26 years, we have expanded our footprint to more than 50 cities across China, developing successful partnerships with local government, businesses and universities.

At the end of 2022, we also became the first foreign asset manager to convert its joint venture into a 100 percent-owned public fund management company in Chinese mainland. This further demonstrates Manulife's strong conviction and long-term commitment to the region.