Korea Life Insurance Co., South Korea’s second-largest life insurer, said Wednesday it will launch a joint venture in China in a bid to tap into the world’s second-largest economy.

Korea Life Insurance signed an agreement Tuesday with China’s state-run fund provider Zhejiang International Business Group Co. to set up a joint life insurer in Hangzhou, the provincial capital of Zhejiang, the Korean insurer said in a statement.

The 50-50 joint venture will be capitalized at 500 million yuan ($78 million), with Korea Life Insurance to be in charge of its management.

Korea Life Insurance said the envisioned joint venture will help it gain a foothold in the Yangtze River Delta, the main industrial region in China.

Korea Life Insurance is a subsidiary of Hanwha Group, one of the leading family-run conglomerates in South Korea.

South Korean insurance companies are eager to break into the Chinese insurance market, the world’s fifth-largest by premiums. 

(Yonhap News)