First American Title Insurance Co.'s international division announced Monday it has established a real estate guaranty unit in China.
First Title Beijing Real Estate Guaranty Co. Ltd. is the first wholly foreign-owned enterprise dealing with real estate guaranty in China.
First American Title appointed Jinqiang Shi as managing director and president of the new company, which provides banks, real estate professionals, developers and others with the Chinese version of escrow products and services.
China passed a new Private Property Law in March that will go into effect in October that covers the creation, transfer and ownership of property in mainland China in an effort to protect its citizens' private assets.
That law's passage, combined with the Chinese government's open-door policy to foreign enterprises in the financial services sector, made the timing right for First American to make escrow services more available in China, the company said.
First American Title, a Santa Ana, Calif., unit of First American Corp., has offices in a dozen countries, including Korea, Australia, Mexico, Poland, Hungary and Turkey.
