Germany’s Allianz Group, which has set up China’s first wholly-foreign owned insurance firm, has scored another first. It is also establishing China’s first insurance asset management firm that’s 100%-foreign owned, paving the way into a market that could be worth as much as 4 trillion RMB (US$600 billion) within two years. The move comes after December’s investment deal between China and the European Union to open up the onshore financial markets to European companies. The investment unit, called Allianz Insurance Asset Management Co, will be established by Allianz (China) Insurance Holdings, the German company’s wholly-owned insurance subsidiary. The Shanghai-based firm, China’s first 100% foreign-owned insurer, officially opened on January 16, with an initial capital of 1.2 billion RMB.