Prudential City Licence

Prudential PLC
20 May 2005

Embargo: 07.00 Friday 20 May 2005





  CITIC Prudential awarded life insurance licence for eighth Chinese city



Prudential plc (Prudential) announced that its life insurance joint venture,
CITIC Prudential Life, has been awarded a life insurance licence for Zhongshan,
in Guangdong Province in Southern China. This new licence continues CITIC
Prudential's well planned expansion into the rapidly growing Chinese life
insurance market. Prudential is now the only European life insurance joint
venture with licences for eight Chinese cities.



Situated in the Pearl River Delta in the economically significant Guangdong
Province, Zhongshan is conveniently situated between Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
The city has a population of over 2.5 million and in 2004 the GDP of Zhongshan
was £3.6 billion, an increase of 19 per cent over the previous year.



Mark Norbom, Chief Executive, Prudential Corporation Asia, said, 'This latest
licence for Zhongshan highlights the strong momentum our business has
established. With the support of our partner CITIC, we look forward to this pace
of expansion continuing.'



Captain Chia, CEO China CITIC Prudential Life added, 'With offices in Guangzhou,
Dongguan, Foshan and now Zhongshan, CITIC Prudential has established a powerful
presence in Southern China. I look forward to leveraging this strong presence as
we continue to expand our life insurance business across all of China. '



In 2000 CITIC Prudential opened its Guangzhou branch and in August 2003 its
Beijing branch was opened. In September 2004 CITIC Prudential Suzhou commenced
operation and in November 2004 CITIC Prudential received a life insurance
licence for Shanghai. In February 2005 CITIC Prudential received licences for
new life insurance operations in Dongguan and Foshan and in March it received an
additional licence for the city of Wuhan. The Zhongshan licence is CITIC
Prudential's eighth and the operation is expected to open by the end of May
2005. CITIC Prudential now has a network of over 8,000 staff and agents in
China.



Enquiries


Media                                       Investors / analysts

Clare Staley     020 7548 3719              Marina Lee-Steere  020 7548 3511

Joanne Davidson  020 7548 3708



About Prudential


Prudential plc is a leading international financial services group, providing
retail financial services and fund management in its chosen markets: the United
Kingdom, the United States, Asia and continental Europe.



Prudential has been writing life insurance in the United Kingdom for over 150
years and has had the largest long-term fund in the United Kingdom for over a
century. Today, Prudential has over 18 million customers worldwide and over £187
billion (as of 31 December 2004) of funds under management.



In the United Kingdom Prudential is a leading life and pensions provider
offering a range of retail financial products.  M&G is Prudential's UK &
European Fund Manager, with around  £126 billion of funds under management (as
of 31 December 2004).  Jackson National Life, acquired by Prudential in 1986, is
a leading provider of long-term savings and retirement products to retail and
institutional customers throughout the United States. Egg plc, in which
Prudential has a 78 per cent shareholding, provides banking, insurance and
investment products through its internet site www.egg.com.



Prudential is the leading European-based life insurer in Asia with operations in
12 countries.



*Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of business
in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the
world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial
services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the
world. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has over £187 billion in
assets under management, (as of 31 December 2004). Prudential plc is not
affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose
principal place of business is in the United States of America.


About CITIC Group (China International Trust and Investment Corporation)


CITIC was established on October 4 1979 by Rong Yiren. The creation of CITIC was
initiated and approved by Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China's reform.


CITIC is a window on the way China has opened to the outside world. Since its
inception, CITIC has always adhered to the principle of innovation. In line with
government laws, regulations and policies, CITIC has attracted and utilised
foreign capital, introduced advanced technologies, and adopted advanced and
scientific international practices in operations and management. CITIC has
established successful, strong performing businesses in many fields. As a
result, CITIC has made significant contributions to the country's reform and
opening up drive and has improved China's reputation both domestically and
abroad.



CITIC has grown into a large multinational conglomerate. It now owns 44
subsidiaries in countries including Hong Kong, the United States, Canada,
Australia and New Zealand. The company has also set up representative offices in
Tokyo, New York and Frankfurt. CITIC's core business ranges from financial
services to service industries. By the end of 2003, CITIC had total assets of
over RMB 596 billion (£39 billion)






                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange