Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which holds about 30 percent of the Korean non-life insurance market, has been active in tapping the Chinese market over the past few years.

The advancement into China is part of the insurer’s globalization strategy.

The initiative was taken by CEO Chi Dae-sup, who took office in 2008 armed with a stern determination to make inroads into overseas markets.

He said at his inauguration that non-life insurance businesses cannot survive by focusing only on the domestic market.

The insurer’s initial strategy was to target Korean residents and resident employees working in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin.

As the business aimed at Koreans residing there proved to be successful, the insurer is considering marketing more generally.

Samsung Fire & Marine, which was founded in 1952, is taking on insurance products for automobiles, fire, marine, travel and retirement.

Its first overseas office was set up in 1978 in London, the world’s capital of the insurance industry. Seven years later the company opened an office in New York, followed by others in Tokyo, Ho Chi Minh City, Beijing and Jakarta.

In 2005, the company established its Chinese subsidiary in Shanghai, becoming the first foreign company to do so. As of last February, it now has three subsidiaries, five branches and seven liaison offices in nine countries all over the world.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)