Insurance sector sees premium decline in China

BEIJING, Apr 03 (Xinhua): China's insurance sector saw their premium income dip 18.5 per cent year on year to 970.3 billion yuan (154 billion U.S. dollars) in January and February, the banking and insurance regulator said Tuesday.

The decline follows an increase of 18.2 per cent in 2017. This drop came as authorities enhanced regulation of the sector to defuse financial risks as the country has listed preventing major risks as one of the country's "three tough battles" for the next three years. Outstanding investment by insurers neared 15 trillion yuan as of the end of February, up 0.5 per cent from the start of the year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Some 34.9 per cent of the investment went to the bond market, while 12.9 per cent was invested in stocks and securities funds, and 12.7 percent in bank savings, the commission said.

Total assets of the insurance industry stood at 16.9 trillion yuan at the end of February, representing an increase of 0.8 per cent from the beginning of the year.