Lloyd’s to build school in China

Lloyd’s, the world’s leading specialist insurance market today announced that it is to fund the building of a new primary school in Southern China.

The facilities will benefit 225 families in the village in Pingba, Laomeng in the province of Yunnan, who were forced to leave their homes and relocate because of flooding.

The 760,000 RMB (GBP50,000) donation will provide a school for more than 200 children.

Lord Levene, Chairman of Lloyd’s said:

“Lloyd’s recognises the importance of education in building the economic and social infrastructure of a country and we are delighted to announce our partnership with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to build a school in Yunnan.

“A good basic education is fundamental to the life blood of any community and Lloyd’s believes the new school will make a meaningful and long-lasting contribution to the lives of children in Yunnan.”

The administration of the school will be overseen by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) who began to raise funds for the people of the remote and poor province of Yunnan in 1992. Construction of the school will begin shortly and is expected to be completed in the summer of 2008.

Lloyd’s has a long history with China and received formal licence approval from the China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open an onshore reinsurance company in Shanghai in April this year. Before gaining permission to underwrite onshore reinsurance business, Lloyd’s had been providing offshore reinsurance to China for over three decades.

Notes to editors:

About Yunnan
Yunnan (Beautiful Clouds in the South) Province is the most southwest region of China bordering the countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. Yunnan encompasses 394,000 square kilometres (152,084 square miles) and has a population of more than 42 million people.

The remote rural population in Southern China – where the school will be built – is made up of six different ethnic minority groups engaged in basic farming activities. In 2006 the average annual income per farmer was 610 RMB (less than US$80).

Flooding in China
Floods in China are a perennial problem and kill a significant number of people each year. Summer is peak rainy season and millions of people in the central and southern part of the country live on farmland in the flood plains of rivers.

In July 2007, record rainfall triggered floods, landslides and mud flows which killed 152 people and forced the evacuation of hundreds of thousands. Worst-hit was southern China’s Yunnan province, where rain triggered floods and landslides.

Flooding and typhoons killed 2,704 people in 2006, according to the China Meteorological Administration. That was the second-deadliest year on record after 1998, when summer flooding claimed 4,150 lives.

About Lloyd’s community investment in China
Lloyd’s Charities Trust has previously supported Save the Children in China with a £100,000 donation for projects focused on children in the Yunnan and Anhui Provinces. The projects ran between 2002 and 2004 and promoted the welfare of disabled children, encouraging their inclusion in the community and influencing policies and approaches by the government and civil society.
For further information, please contact:

Louise Shield
Tel: +44 (0)20 7327 5793 Fax: +44 (0)20 7327 5229 Email: louise.shield@lloyds.com
Bart Nash
Tel: +44 (0)20 7327 6272 Fax: +44 (0)20 7327 5229 Email: bart.nash@lloyds.com

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