These two licenses continue Prudential's planned expansion into the rapidly growing Chinese life insurance market and makes Prudential the only European life insurer with official approval to operate in six Chinese cities. Dongguan and Foshan are key cities in Guangdong province, which lies adjacent to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in southern China. With a population of 6.4 million, Dongguan is the province's second largest city. Foshan with 5.6 million people is ranked fourth. Prudential stated the cities were chosen because of their strategic location and market appeal. Dan Bardin, CEO of Insurance, Prudential Corporation Asia, said, "Guangdong province is one of China's largest and fastest growing regions. When combined with our existing Guangzhou operation, these two new licenses will give us an operating presence in three of the four largest cities in Guangdong province. It also demonstrates our ongoing commitment to building a material life insurance business in China." The new developments come hot on the heels of a license CITIC Prudential acquired at the end of January from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to sell group life insurance in the Chinese market.