Haotian Insurance Brokers (Shanghai), which held its opening ceremony on 16 July, has already applied for licences to operate eight branches or units across China. Regulatory filing has been completed for five of these branches.

Haotian is an insurance brokerage company with a national licence approved by the CBIRC. The brokerage's sole shareholder is Shanghai Tianji Investment, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhongtian Development Holding Group, one of China's top 10 construction contractors.

Haotian's establishment, with headquarters in Shanghai, followed announcements last year by the central government of further opening up of economic sectors. In step with the central government, the Shanghai Financial Services Office in May announced plans for financial opening-up, relating to insurance, banking, securities and other financial services.

Haotian is also actively exploring technological innovation in the insurance field. It is developing several mobile apps for broking operations and integration with insurance companies.