Jan. 14, 2009 (China Knowledge) - WellPoint Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer by membership, is looking for potential partners to set up a health insurance joint venture (JV) on the Chinese mainland by mid-2011, in a bid to tap into the emerging healthcare services market, the Shanghai Daily reported, citing John P. Domeika, president and CEO of WellPoint China, as saying.

The move is in line with the company's long-term strategic development in the Chinese market.

The company is very confident of obtaining regulatory approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) by mid-2011, said Domeika, without disclosing the detailed information on the potential partners.

In April 2008, WellPoint opened WPMI (Shanghai) Enterprise Consulting and Service Co and has two corporate clients, namely the Sino-Life and the Taiping Life. WPMI Shanghai, with a data center in the city, provides third-party consultancy services to customers.