A Letter from the Chairman

We are proud to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Starr Companies in China and its rich culture developed over the past century.

Our founder, Cornelius Vander Starr, established the first American-owned insurance enterprise in Shanghai in 1919.

Over the next several decades Starr's business spread throughout Asia. Its operations in China were interrupted by wars and revolution, but we always found a way to return. Forced to leave China prior to World War II, Starr returned immediately upon the war's end. Starr continued to operate in China until the revolution caused him to leave again.

As China started to emerge from its global isolation, I began to travel there multiple times every year, beginning in 1975. With the help of longtime Starr associates such as Buck Freeman, Ernie Stempel, Edmund Tse and others, we built lasting relationships with many Chinese leaders in government and business. We trained our new friends about the life insurance business and introduced the agency system, which created many jobs.

In 1995, after 20 years of hard work and persistence, we became the first wholly-owned foreign life insurance company in China to be granted an operating license. Since then Starr has rebuilt its network of branch offices throughout the country.

I am proud of our history, our culture and our accomplishments over the past 100 years. We believe in the future of U.S.-China relations and look forward to another century of shared prosperity and growth.

Sincerely,

Maurice R. Greenberg
Chairman and CEO