Clyde & Co has strengthened its corporate insurance practice in Shanghai with the hire of Insurance Australia group general counsel Michael Cripps.

Cripps (pictured), who will join Clydes' Shanghai office at the end of February as a partner, has been brought in with a remit to develop and grow Clydes' corporate insurance practice in China. He becomes the third corporate insurance partner in Shanghai and the eighteenth in the practice globally.

Prior to his departure, Cripps was based in Sydney as group GC at Insurance Australia – the country's largest publicly-listed property and casualty insurer – for five years. Before his in-house stint, he spent more than 10 years in Shanghai as a partner at Australian firm Allens Arthur Robinson.

Clydes corporate insurance chief Andrew Holderness said: "The hire of Michael Cripps is part of our firmwide drive to grow our global corporate insurance arm and, with the economic growth in Asia right now, our Shanghai office is a real focus for the firm."

He added: "We will be looking to grow the practice further in the coming months in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore, and Michael's strong links to Australia will also help with the development of our client business there."

According to Holderness, the firm's desire to expand in China is partly down to the increasing investment in the Asian insurance sector from more mature markets in Europe and the US, as well as from domestic companies that have performed well during the credit crunch.

Cripps' appointment follows the arrival of corporate insurance partners Bob Ansehl and William Tsang last year, who joined the firm's New York and Hong Kong offices respectively.