The Lloyd’s Primary School in the Yunnan province of China was officially opened on Friday 30 October in a ceremony attended by representatives of the insurance market and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The school will provide educational facilities for 280 children across eight classes. The day to day running of the school is undertaken by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs who developed a scheme to raise funds for the people of the remote Province of Yunnan after the village of Jinping, Laomeng was devastated in 2007 by a landslide caused by flooding. Buildings in the village were destroyed and families forced to relocate.
In 2007, Lloyd’s donated £50,000 to build and equip the new school and playground. It is now raising funds to build a dormitory for pupils as many face a five hour journey to and from their homes every day to get to school.
Lord Levene, Chairman of Lloyd's, said:
“Lloyd’s is delighted to be able to help build this school in conjunction with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and enable these children to continue with their education. Our market has a long association with China and I hope this new school will help to forge a new relationship with a younger generation.”
Eric Gao, General Manager of Lloyd's China said:
"We feel honoured to have the opportunity to sponsor this poverty alleviation project together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."
One of the student’s parents said:
"We are so grateful to Lloyd's. Because of Lloyd's donation, our child can continue her study which she would otherwise have to stop."
Lloyd’s has a long history with China and received formal licence approval from the China’s Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open an onshore reinsurance company in Shanghai in April 2007. Before gaining permission to underwrite onshore reinsurance business, Lloyd’s had been providing offshore reinsurance to China for over three decades.
