Following Ping An Insurance, AIA becomes the second Chinese company to join R3

Blockchain startup R3CEV has accepted Hong Kong-based AIA Life Insurance Company (AIA) into its global banking consortium.

R3 has been increasing its presence in Asia in recent times, adding China’s Ping An Insurance Group late last month, as it seeks to diversify its membership.

In a company statement, R3 CEO David Rutter argued that the company needed to position itself by adding new stakeholders to industry talks. In addition to creating in-house technology such as its smart contract distributed ledger Corda, R3 also provides consulting and research services.

According to AIA COO Simeon Preston, these resources were key factors in attracting the organization. He said:

“R3 provides us with the opportunity to work with leading global financial services organizations to understand the potential applications of blockchain technology around the world, and particularly in the Asia Pacific region.”

The Chinese financial institutions’ joining R3 comes at a time when interest in blockchain technology is rising among Asian businesses. In Japan, for example, a number of bitcoin and blockchain startups have begun raising funds in recent weeks, while Japanese banks are actively launching proof-of-concepts.

About AIA Hong Kong

AIA Group and its subsidiaries (collectively, the "AIA Group" or the "Group") is the world's largest independent, pan-Asian listed life insurance group with operations in 15 markets across Asia Pacific. The Group has been rooted in the region for more than 90 years and has total assets of US$107.9 billion.

AIA Group provides a comprehensive range of products and services, covering accident and health insurance, life insurance and retirement plans to meet the savings, protection and investment needs of individual customers. In addition, the Group also provides employee benefits, credit insurance and retirement protection services to corporate customers.