LONDON, Nov. 18 (Reuters)—Catlin has formed an alliance withChina Reinsurance Corporation that will inject Chinese funds intothe Lloyd's of London market and line the British insurer up toaccess opportunities in Asia.

Catlin, which operates one of the biggest underwritingsyndicates at Lloyd's whose origins date back to a 1688 coffeehouse where merchants met to insure ships, said it would form a newentity called “Syndicate 2088.”

China Re will provide the capital for the venture, while Catlinwill manage it. The establishment of Syndicate 2088 will also markthe first time that a Chinese-based company has directly investedin a Lloyd's of London syndicate, Catlin said.

“This alliance will create a new Lloyd's special purposesyndicate, which will provide reinsurance support that will allowCatlin to take greater advantage of emerging improvements in manybusiness classes without the need to increase capital,” CatlinChief Executive Stephen Catlin said in a statement.

“More importantly, I believe that the group's partnership withChina Re will lead to our increased understanding of the Chinesemarketplace, which will produce significant advantages for Catlinin the years ahead,” he added.

Earlier this week, Catlin said that a wave of natural disastersthis year, including an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, hadresulted in $670 million losses so far.