Business overview  Results of operations – Asia 72 Aegon Asia operates in the Asia region through three major joint ventures in  China, India and Japan, and a network of wholly-owned subsidiaries. In 2002, Aegon signed a joint venture agreement with  China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China’s leading  offshore oil and gas producer. Aegon-CNOOC Life Insurance Co.  Ltd (Aegon-CNOOC) began operations in 2003. The joint venture  is licensed to sell both life insurance and accident and health  products in the provinces of mainland China. Aegon-CNOOC  has extended its network of offices and business in China since  2003. Its geographic spread provides access to a potential  market of more than 640 million people, many in the booming  coastal provinces of eastern China. In 2006, Aegon formed a new life insurance partnership in  India with Religare Enterprises Limited and Bennett, Coleman  & Company Limited. This partnership began operations as  Aegon Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd (Aegon Religare) in  2008. By December 31, 2013, Aegon Religare had a pan- India distribution network with 70 branches, across 55 cities and  21 states, and had issued more than 345.000 policies to over  300.000 customers. In early 2007, Aegon signed a joint venture agreement in Japan  with Sony Life, one of Japan’s leading insurance companies.  Operations launched in 2009 as Sony Life Insurance Co. Ltd  (Aegon Sony Life). By December 2013, the joint venture had  signed distribution partnerships with one ’mega bank’ and  fourteen regional banks, in addition to Sony Life’s Life Planner  channel of over 4,000 professionals. The focus of the joint  venture is annuity sales in Japan.  The shareholders in the joint venture also agreed to jointly  establish a reinsurance company, SA Reinsurance Ltd (SARe),  to allow Aegon and Sony Life greater flexibility in the pricing  and product design of its annuity products. SARe launched in  2010 and is based in Bermuda with the purpose of hedging  the guarantees of Aegon Sony Life’s annuities. In 2011, a new organizational structure was adopted for  Aegon’s operations in Asia, with all Asia-based insurance  businesses managed as one regional division headquartered  in Hong Kong and operates to a branch of Aegon Asia B.V..  In 2012, Aegon Direct and Affinity Marketing Services (ADAMS)  and Transamerica Life Bermuda (TLB) were integrated into the  Asia division of the New Markets operating unit. The objective  is to leverage product and distribution expertise, capture  efficiencies, and pursue organic growth of Aegon’s franchise  in Asia. Previously these entities reported under the Americas  operating unit. Aegon Sony Life in Japan has two primary channels of  distribution, the Life Planner channel of Sony Life, Aegon’s  joint venture partner, and the bank distribution channel, which  now comprises fourteen regional banks. In 2010, Aegon Sony  Life launched a partnership with SMBC, one of Japan’s largest  national banks, and substantially added further regional bank  partners thereafter.  As of December 2013, Aegon Religare’s widespread agency  network, which it had established by 2010, comprised more than  7,000 agents, following some consolidation in 2012. In addition  to agency distribution, there has been an increase in Direct to  Customer (D2C) distribution, such as digital sales platforms  and the use of the direct sales force channel. Aegon Religare is  a pioneer in the online protection space, and has experienced  a significant increase in the number of sales generated online  in 2012 and 2013. Aegon Religare also distributes its products  through strategic partner Religare Group, and partnerships with  companies that offer financial services to their clients, brokers,  and, to an extent, co-operative banks.  In China, Aegon sells its products through multiple distribution  channels, such as agents, independent brokers, banks, direct  marketing, and the group channel. As of November 2013,  Aegon’s bancassurance network in China was 675 outlets. TLB has served the high-net-worth market in Asia in an off- and  on-shore capacity since the early 1990s.  ADAMS is an independent direct marketing services company  with operations in five Asian countries. It was established in  Australia in 1998, and subsequently has begun operations in  Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, India and, more recently, Indonesia.  Overview of Asia Joint ventures Organizational structure Overview of sales and distribution Wholly-owned subsidiaries Annual Report 2013 ■ Aegon-CNOOC Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (50%); ■ Aegon Religare Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (26%); ■ Aegon Sony Life Insurance Co. Ltd (50%); ■ SA Reinsurance Ltd (50%); ■ Transamerica Life Bermuda; ■ Aegon Direct and Affinity Marketing Services; ■ Aegon Asia B.V.