Source: China Daily

12-08-2008 16:40

Special Report:   30 Years of Changes

Han Lin, a 39-year-old Chinese insurance worker, has become increasingly concerned about her job lately. But her worries don't particularly stem from her duties. She is concerned because of fears that one of the partners in a joint venture with the company she works for is about to leave.

And Han is not alone. Joint venture divorces affect many and these ventures have a tendency to split, usually due to irreconcilable differences.

And in the insurance sector, which has seen an increasing number of corporate intercultural marriages, there is the danger of suffering more divorces than Elizabeth Taylor.

Han has worked for Sino-US Metlife, the Beijing-based joint venture between US insurer Metropolitan Life Insurance Co and the State-owned Capital Airport Group, for two years. Now insiders are suggesting that the Chinese partner is planning to quit as it looks to focus on its core business.