For the first time ever, the World Health Organization has approved a Chinese vaccine for U.N. distribution.

A recent publication from the Singapore Department of Statistics has stated that the city state has continued to see a year-over-year increase in its population from 5.18 million in 2011 to 5.31 million in 2012. However, the reality of the situation is that annual population growth has slowed from 3.5% to 2.5%…

The March 11, 2011 earthquake that struck off the coast of northeast Japan, and the devastation resulting from the subsequent tsunami and nuclear fallout threat that followed, have had a significant impact on the previously under-utilized local catastrophe insurance market. The catastrophic event is now reported…

Nippon Life Insurance Company, Japan's largest life insurer by revenue, has announced plans to expand overseas and invest €500 million (US$725 million) in a unit of Allianz SE, with the transaction expected to close later in the week. This deal marks the Japanese company's first investment in a European peer, and it is also the first time that the German insurance giant has issued contingent capital…

More established players in the reinsurance market are set to release their quarterly accounts and reassess their capacity to now meet annual growth targets.

Several multinational property and casualty insurance companies have had their first-quarter earnings significantly impacted by the catastrophic losses due to earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and the severe floods in Australia.

South Korea currently boasts one of the ten largest insurance markets in the world with a particularly high-penetration rate in regards to life insurance. While the country's insurance sector is made available to foreign multinationals, both the life and non-life segments continue to be dominated by large domestic companies. In order to maintain their growth, Korean insurance firms are now looking…

Manulife Life Insurance Co. plans to launch newly developed products, supported by a diversified distribution strategy to match the changing dynamics of the mature insurance market in Japan. The ageing population and weak stock market are perceived by Manulife as having potential for offering life insurance products, which are backed up by the ability to create protection for wealth management and long-term savings.

Manulife Life Insurance Company (Manulife Japan) has recently launched a new variable individual annuity insurance type V product which will be sold through the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Once the ink dries on the deals for AIG to divest American Life Company (ALICO) and American International Assurance Company (AIA), there will be a stakeholders shift in the Life Market in Asia, as observed by market analysts.