AIA has struck a distribution deal with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s biggest lender by market value, as the Asian arm of AIG moves to consolidate its position as the leading foreign life assurer in China.

　　友邦保险(AIA)已经与中国市值最大的银行——中国工商银行(ICBC)达成承销协议。这家美国国际集团(AIG)的亚洲子公司正努力巩固其作为中国领先的外资人寿保险公司的地位。

　　The bancassurance agreement, which was signed this week and could be announced as soon as today, comes as AIA is pressing on swiftly with plans to float on the Hong Kong stock exchange by the end of November.

　　本周签署的这项银行保险业务(bancassurance)协议最早可能于今日宣布。此际，友邦保险正在大力推进于11月底前在香港交易所上市的计划。

　　“This is a major agreement with one of the world’s biggest banks,” said one person familiar with the deal. “It will expand and build upon AIA’s relationship with ICBC.”

　　“这是与世界最大银行之一达成的一项重大协议，”一名知情人士表示。“此举将扩大并巩固友邦保险与工商银行的关系。”

　　ICBC International, the bank’s securities arm, is one of two Asian banks among the 11 bookrunners on the AIA initial public offering, which could raise up to $20bn in one of the world’s biggest listings of the past two years.

　　在友邦保险首次公开发行(IPO)的11家簿记行中，有两家来自亚洲，工商银行的证券子公司工银国际(ICBC International)即是其中之一。此次IPO可能募集资金多达200亿美元，成为过去两年全球规模最大的IPO之一。

　　AIG, the stricken US insurer, returned to its plan to sell a majority of the stock in AIA after the $35.5bn deal to sell the company to Prudential of the UK fell through earlier this year.

　　今年早些时候，在以355亿美元将友邦保险出售给英国保诚集团(Prudential)的交易告吹后，身处困境的AIG重新拾起了出售友邦保险多数股权的计划。

　　The money raised from the sale will be used to help pay down some of the billions of dollars that AIG owes to the US taxpayer after its rescue at the height off the financial crisis in 2008.

　　出售股权所得将用于偿还2008年金融危机鼎盛时期AIG从美国纳税人手中获得的数十亿美元纾困资金。

　　AIA, which is the only foreign company to own its Chinese operating license outright, already has 17 smaller bancassurance arrangements in China that give it access to more than 1,000 bank branches, according to the most recently available financial data on the company.

　　友邦保险是唯一一家直接拥有中国营业执照的外资保险公司。记者能够获得的友邦保险最新财务数据显示，目前该公司已经在中国达成了17笔规模较小的银行保险业务安排，使其得以利用1000多家银行网点。

　　It also has more than 25,000 sales agents in the country, which have helped it to build the leading position among foreign life assurers in China with a roughly 21 per cent share of business sold by foreigners. However, this amounts to just 1 per cent of the total life assurance market in China.

　　友邦保险还在中国拥有2.5万余名销售人员，帮助其在驻华外资人寿保险商中确立了领先地位，在外资寿险业务中占据了大约21%的份额。不过，这只相当于中国整体寿险市场的1%。