Premiums of insurance firms in China in the first seven months of the year rose 13.3% from a year earlier to 342 billion yuan ($42.9 billion), the insurance regulator said on Aug 21.

That marked a slight slowdown from the 13.7% annual pace of growth in premiums registered in the first six months.
Premiums from life insurance reached 254 billion yuan ($31.89 billion) in January through July, up 12.9% from a year earlier, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said.

Property insurance premiums rose to 88 billion yuan ($11.05 billion), up 14.6% from a year earlier, while premiums from casualty insurance jumped 16.2% to 9 billion yuan ($1.13 billion), it said. By the end of July, total assets of insurance companies stood at 1.74 trillion yuan ($218.44 billion), up about 25% from a year earlier.

China's fledgling insurance industry has been developing rapidly as Beijing dismantles a cradle-to-grave welfare system. Annual growth in insurance premiums accelerated to 13.95% last year, from 11.3% in 2004. Beijing has also been allowing insurers wider options to invest their money, including letting them take stakes in banks, buy into infrastructure projects and invest more of their money in stock markets.

Source:佚名