BEIJING, Dec. 22 --Xinhua-PRNewswire-AsiaNet/InfoQuest Prudential plc (United Kingdom) today remarked on its programme to educate Chinese women on how to better plan for their lifelong financial needs. The programme was launched in June this year in partnership with the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions, and has already reached about 1,000 participants in more than 200 State Owned Enterprises in Beijing. Prudential has identified an increasing need for financial education in China. The rapid growth in personal wealth among the Chinese coincides with a greater responsibility for individuals to provide for their own retirement and healthcare. The education programme, called "Investing in Your Future", has been designed with the needs of female employees of stateowned enterprises in mind. The goal is to arm these women (current and future homemakers) with basic financial knowledge and the tools they need to deal with the financial planning challenges they will encounter at different stages of life. The programme draws on the expertise of Prudential Corporation Asia's own female professionals, from offices in Mainland China and Hong Kong, who understand the issues currently facing women in China, and are therefore well qualified to be instructors for this programme. Mark Norbom, Chief Executive of Prudential Corporation Asia, said "Throughout the Prudential Group, we encourage and fully support corporate responsibility activities, especially those focused on education and financial literacy. We are delighted to be able to extend this programme to China, and to leverage the expertise that we have within our organization to give women in China a better understanding of financial planning ." Commenting on the launch of "Investing in Your Future", Liza Vizard, Prudential's Global Head of Corporate Responsibility said "Our aim is to arm people with basic financial knowledge and the tools to make informed decisions about their finances at key stages of their lives. The response from participants has been very positive, with more than 92% of women saying that they are now thinking of investing or changing the way they invest their money after participating in the programme. By continually assessing the participants' feedback, we have made the programme as relevant to the lives of Chinese women as possible." Ms. Zhang Huai Ming, Head of the Women's Affairs Department of the Beijing Federation of Trade Unions said, "Chinese society is growing in wealth. With increased income, there is corresponding need from our women workers to learn how to invest for the future and to better understand the advantages of financial planning. Our members very much appreciate the financial literacy education sessions held by Prudential's financial experts for the new knowledge and information they brought to us. " In total, the programme reached out to about 1,000 women in 211 State Owned Enterprises with close to 100% of these participants saying they would be able to apply the knowledge they gained from the seminar to their daily life. About Prudential Prudential plc is a leading international financial services group, providing retail financial services and fund management in its chosen markets: the United Kingdom, the United States, Asia and continental Europe. Prudential has been writing life insurance in the United Kingdom for over 150 years and has had the largest long-term fund in the United Kingdom for over a century. Today, Prudential has over 16 million customers worldwide and over US$300 billion (as of 30 June 2004 C latest published figures) of funds under management. In the United Kingdom Prudential is a leading life and pensions provider offering a range of retail financial products. M&G is Prudential's UK & European Fund Manager, with around US$200 billion of funds under management. Jackson National Life, acquired by Prudential in 1986, is a leading provider of long-term savings and retirement products to retail and institutional customers throughout the United States. Egg plc, in which Prudential has a 79 per cent shareholding, provides banking, insurance and investment products through its internet site http://www.egg.com . Prudential is the leading European-based life insurer in Asia with 24 operations in 12 countries. Across the region Prudential Corporation Asia has 12 operations with a top-five market share. Alongside its wholly owned operations in Asia, Prudential has forged successful joint ventures and strategic alliances with some of the region's leading financial institutions including CITIC, Bank of China International, India's ICICI Bank and Standard Chartered Bank In China, CITIC Prudential first established a presence with the launch of its Guangzhou operation in October 2000. In August 2003, it opened its Beijing operation and in September 2004 its Suzhou operation. CITIC Prudential received a license to operate in Shanghai and is expected to be opened for business in the first quarter of 2005. The company now has over 6,000 staff and agents and is the only British life insurer with operations in four Chinese cities. Prudential plc, a company incorporated and with its principal place of business in the United Kingdom, and its affiliated companies constitute one of the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for over 150 years and has 170 billion pounds in assets under management, as at 30 june 2004. Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business is in the United States of America. Media Contacts: Chinese Media: Jean Cai, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide phone: +86-136-0130-6613 Email: [email protected] International Media: James Hawksworth, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide phone: +86-138-0120-0374 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Prudential plc --Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)--