TORONTO — Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a joint venture led by Canada's largest insurance company (TSX:MFC), has received regulatory approval to expand its presence in China.

The subsidiary of Manulife Financial Corp. has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to operate in Tianjin, a province southeast of Beijing with a population of 11.8 million people.

Manulife-Sinochem, a joint venture between Manulife and China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Co., will now operate in 11 Chinese provinces with 11,500 staff and agents serving 450,000 customers.

"Manulife continues to see excellent opportunities to expand as we apply our products and skills to help meet the savings, protection and investment needs of customers across China," Manulife Financial president and CEO Donal Guloien said in a statement.

In a separate announcement, Manulife announced Friday that it has closed the transaction to purchase the Canadian retail investment business of AIC Ltd.

The deal increases Manulife's overall retail fund assets under management for Canadians to about $13.9 billion, an increase of 38 per cent.

"We now have an excellent opportunity to broaden Manulife's position in Canada's wealth management market, while providing AIC's clients access to Manulife's broad platform of insurance, wealth and banking products and services," said Paul Rooney, Manulife Canada's president and chief executive.

Manulife shares traded Friday at $21.60, down 40 cents, on the Toronto Stock Exchange.