BEIJING, March 25th,2009—Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd.(ICBC)  and the Allianz Group (Allianz) today reaffirmed their strategic cooperative relationship and disclosed the arrangement of shares after the lock-up period.
 
Pursuant to the Shareholder Rights Agreement between ICBC and Allianz, the lock-up period for the H-shares held by Allianz will expire in two equal installments on April 28th and October 20th 2009. Allianz will deal with the shares in an appropriate way through close cooperation with ICBC. In case of divestiture Allianz will explore all potential methods of sale that would maximize value and minimize market impact, with a preference for a private sale to investors.
 
In the past three years, ICBC and Allianz cooperated with each other positively in  various areas including bankassurance products development, marketing, customer service, and staff training. By the end of 2008, the total amount of bankassurance products ICBC sold for Allianz exceeded RMB3.2bn, and the latter had around RMB1.8bn custodian assets in ICBC.

Mr. Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of ICBC, said, "We are very satisfied with the achievements we made together in past three years, and view bank-insurance cooperation a promising business for both. We look forward to further enhancing our long-term and mutually-beneficial strategic cooperative relationship."

Michael Diekmann, CEO of Allianz Group, said: "We have full confidence in China's economy , support ICBC's development strategy and recognize the long term investment value that ICBC represents. We will further expand the strategic cooperation between the two great institutions."
 
The total shareholding in ICBC by Allianz represents approximately 1.93% of ICBC's total outstanding shares.

ICBC

ICBC is the largest wholesale and retail bank in China by assets and deposits and is a market leader in many business areas including corporate and personal loans, deposits, mortgages, e-banking, custodian services and inter-bank clearing. It provides a wide range of commercial banking services to corporate and individual customers. ICBC has approximately 16,000 outlets and employs 385,000 people across China. It had total assets of RMB9.4 trillion at the end of 2008.

Allianz Group

Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and financial services providers. Founded in 1890, Allianz is now present in more than 70 countries with over 153,000 employees. Allianz provides its more than 75 million customers worldwide with a comprehensive range of services in the areas of property and casualty insurance, life and health insurance, asset management and banking 

Press Contacts:

ICBC                            Media contacts   (86) 10 6610 8063
                                     Investor Relations (86) 10 6610 8608

Allianz Group              Christian Kroos   +49.89.3800-5043
                                      Michael Matern   +49.89.3800-2960