Acqn of 9.91% of Ping An

HSBC Holdings PLC
31 August 2005

             HSBC COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF 9.91 PER CENT OF PING AN

On 9 May 2005 it was announced that a wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings
plc, HSBC Insurance Holdings Limited, had entered into agreements, subject to
conditions, to acquire a further 9.91 per cent of the issued share capital of
Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. for HK$8,104 million (US$1,039
million). The conditions to which those agreements were subject have been
satisfied and the acquisition was completed today.

As permitted under the agreements, HSBC Insurance assigned its rights to acquire
the shares to The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, another
wholly-owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation acquired 613,929,279 Ping An shares from The Goldman Sachs Group,
Inc. and MSCP/PA Holding Limited, an entity controlled by funds managed by the
private equity business of Morgan Stanley, for a cash consideration of HK$13.20
(US$1.69) per share.

This acquisition brings HSBC's aggregate holding in Ping An to 19.90 per cent.
HSBC Insurance Holdings Limited continues to hold the 9.99 per cent investment
in Ping An it acquired in November 2002.

Notes to editors:

1. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. was founded in 1988 and has its
headquarters in Shenzhen. With insurance as its core business, Ping An has grown
into a close-knit, efficient and diversified financial holding group that
integrates securities, trusts and banking. The group company is the holding
company of Ping An Life Insurance Company of China, Ltd. and Ping An Property &
Casualty Insurance Company of China, Ltd. According to the gross written
premiums, Ping An Life was ranked the second-largest life insurer in mainland
China; Ping An Property & Casualty was ranked the third-largest property and
casualty insurance company on the Mainland.

2. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a
principal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,700 offices in 77
countries and territories and assets of US$1,467 billion at 30 June 2005, is one
of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.





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