BEIJING: China’s insurance companies posted a 19.5 percent jump year on year in gross premium income totaling 1.7 trillion yuan (US$267 billion) in the first eight months of the year, the insurance regulator said yesterday.
But the pace slowed slightly from the 19.9 percent growth in the first seven months, data from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission showed.
Life insurance income surged 23.9 percent to 1.15 trillion yuan in the January-August period, while that for non-life insurance such as property and casualty grew 11.4 percent to 554.6 billion yuan.
The total insurance assets grew 11 percent from the start of the year to 11.3 trillion yuan, data showed.
Equity investments by insurance firms have shrunk amid a volatile stock market. They invested 13.07 percent of the premiums in the equity market in the first eight months, down from 13.56 percent in the first seven months.
Investment returns have driven insurance companies’ profit growth since last year when China’s stock market rebounded strongly, but the recent rout has clouded their growth prospects.
Moody’s Investors Service warned last week that China’s life insurance companies would be hurt if the country’s stock market stayed volatile in the next 12 to 18 months.
