Manulife Financial Donates RMB2million to Support the Earthquake Relief Efforts in China

TORONTO, May. 16 /PRNewswire/ --

TORONTO, May 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Manulife Financial and its staff and agents are donating at least RMB2million to support the relief efforts in the areas of China affected by Monday's earthquake.

The donation will primarily go to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal and be used to provide aid to the areas of China impacted by the disaster. At the same time, a significant proportion of the donation will be used directly on the ground in Sichuan Province, to help schoolchildren and teachers at schools destroyed by the earthquake.

Mr. Robert A. Cook, Senior Executive Vice President and General Manager, Asia said: "We were all shocked and saddened by Monday's terrible events and we would like to express our sympathy to the victims and their families. Our immediate priority was to ensure the safety of all our staff and agents in China. Now that we have done so, our focus turns to ensuring we do what we can to support the relief effort and to help local people to start to rebuild their lives. Manulife colleagues from around the world are working together to offer support to the people of Sichuan Province."

Manulife-Sinochem has five sales offices in Sichuan Province - in Mianyang, Deyang, Nangchong, Zigong and Chengdu. All staff and agents are accounted for and three of the sales offices - in Nangchong, Zigong and Deyang - are operational. We expect to recommence operations in Mianyang and Chengdu in the coming days.

The company has a total of 766 staff and agents in Sichuan Province. 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$400 billion (US$389 billion) as at March 31, 2008.

Manulife Financial is one of two publicly traded life insurance companies in the world whose rated life insurance subsidiaries hold Standard & Poor's Rating Services' highest "AAA" rating.

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.