The director-general of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, William Mason, and his counterpart at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, Mr Jiang Bo, have signed a memorandum of understanding.

The MoU contains a statement of intent to establish a set of rules for mutual assistance and to facilitate the exchange of information between the authorities. The GFSC now has MoUs with all of China's financial service regulators, including the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Mason said: "China and its financial services firms have embarked on a policy of international expansion to better serve foreign clients and expatriate Chinese under the "one belt, one road" strategy. As Chinese financial services firms are expanding they are looking for high quality jurisdictions from which to conduct their international business."

More than 800 insurance entities are now based in Guernsey.