2005 News Releases

Company to open office in China’s first Special Economic Zone: Shenzhen

Shenzhen, China– Manulife-Sinochem Life Insurance Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Canada-based Manulife Financial and the Official Life Insurance Partner of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, has received approval from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) to open a Sales Office in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province.

“This approval to operate in Shenzhen marks our fifth city of operations in Guangdong Province and furthermore, fully expands our Guangdong Provincial license that previously excluded Shenzhen. Proudly, Manulife-Sinochem now has one of the most extensive foreign networks on the mainland,” said Marc Sterling, Chairman, Manulife-Sinochem. “We plan to be operational in Shenzhen – China’s wealthiest city by almost every measure – in the first quarter of 2006.”

To date in 2005, Manulife-Sinochem has established operations in Ningbo, Foshan, and Dongguan and will be opening in the coming months in Hangzhou, Nanjing and Zhongshan. The Company’s near-term national expansion strategy sees offices opening in close proximity to its three major operations in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

“Ranked as China’s number one city in terms of GDP per Capita and average disposable income, the Shenzhen market of approximately six million citizens offers tremendous opportunity for our business,” added Mr. Sterling. “Shenzhen is the financial capital of Southern China and accordingly, we look forward to meeting the sophisticated needs of both individual and group consumers in this vibrant and growing city.”

About Manulife-Sinochem
Manulife-Sinochem is a joint venture company between Manulife (International) Limited (51 per cent) and China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company, a member of the Sinochem group (49 per cent). Headquartered in Shanghai where it began its China operations in November 1996, Manulife-Sinochem opened China’s first foreign-invested joint venture life insurance branch office, in the city of Guangzhou, in November 2002 and has since been pursuing a rapid expansion strategy across the country. Today, Manulife-Sinochem’s approximately 4,000 professionally trained agents and employees serve almost 220,000 customers.

About Sinochem
China Foreign Economic and Trade Trust & Investment Company (FOTIC) is a core enterprise of Sinochem. Sinochem, founded in 1950, is one of the biggest foreign trading companies in China. Sinochem has been listed among the Fortune Global 500 companies for 15 consecutive years, ranking 270th in 2004. It was ranked fifth among China’s 500 largest companies in 2003. Sinochem can be found on the Internet at www.sinochem.com.

About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$364 billion (HK$2,308.3 billion) as at June 30, 2005.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

- 30 -

For more information, please contact:

In Hong Kong: Helena Lee / Jeanie Ho Manulife (International) Limited Tel: 2202 1050 / 2510 3191 Fax: 2234 6875 Email: helena_lee@manulife.com jeanie_ho@manulife.com	In China: Lillian Li Manulife-Sinochem Tel: (86-21)5049-2288 x185 Mobile: (86-21) 1390-175-1095 Email: lillian_li@manulife-sinochem.com
In Asia: Kim Griffiths Manulife Financial Tel: 2510 3200 Mobile: (852) 9091-3861 Email: kim_griffiths@manulife.com