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1Q insurance premiums up 23%

(Dow Jones)
Updated: 2007-04-24 15:16

China's insurers collected 196.45 billion yuan in premiums between January and March, up 22.7% from 160.15 billion yuan?in the same period last year, the country's insurance regulator said Monday.

China's insurers collected 196.45 billion yuan in premiums between January and March, up 22.7% from 160.15 billion yuan?in the same period last year. [newsphoto]

Premiums from property insurance rose 38.8% to 51.49 billion yuan, and life insurance premiums increased 19.3% to 131.46 billion yuan?from a year earlier, said Yuan Li, spokesman of theChina Insurance Regulatory Commission, at a press briefing inBeijing.

China's premium income rose 14.4% in 2006, and by 13.95% in 2005, official data showed.

By the end of March, the assets of China's insurance firms totaled 2.24 trillion yuan, up from 1.97 trillion yuan at the end of 2006, the spokesman said. The companies' financial investments totaled 2.04 trillion yuan?at the end of the last quarter, said Yuan, without giving a year-earlier figure.

Bonds represented 48.5% of the total, and investments in stocks and mutual funds accounted for 18.3% of the total at 373.26 billion yuan, he said.

China's insurance firms can only invest 5% of their assets in the stock market, though the regulator said earlier it would gredually increase the ceiling.

Yuan said the regulator is considering allowing insurance companies to invest in high-quality securitization products and financial derivatives, and to take stakes in high-quality enterprises, including financial institutions.