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China Life says won't be intimidated by investment risks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-26 18:55

China Life will not be intimidated by the risks when seeking buyout and expansion opportunities amid the current financial crisis and economic downturn, company chairman Yang Chao said Thursday.

Related readings:  China Life Q4 net falls 42% on stock slump  China big life insurers' premiums up in Feb   China Life not to bid for AIA: company chairman   China Life drops buy bid

Nevertheless, any decisions will be prudent and based on thorough studies and careful handling of the negotiation process, Yang told reporters at the company's annual results tele-conference carried out in Beijing and Hong Kong.

Yang said the Chinese mainland will be the top priority market in potential expansion of China Life, which now has over 40 percent of the mainland life insurance market.

The 2008 net profit of China Life decreased 45.3 percent year on year to 21.3 billion yuan ($3.1 billion), in line with previous estimates.

The company reported realized net premiums and policy fees of 134.7 billion yuan, which represented a growth of 20.9 percent year on year.

The decline in net profit was largely due to net realized losses on financial assets of 6.5 billion yuan, compared with net gains of 15.4 billion yuan in 2007, and net fair value losses of 7.3 billion yuan, compared with gains of 18.8 billion yuan in 2007.

"The sharp fall in capital markets ... due to global financial crisis resulted in substantial pressure on the company's investment," the company said.

Yang said the company was in the process of shifting to offering long-term regular premium products, the low risk products and the individual agents channel, a strategy that is expected help enhance the competitiveness of China Life products.

The strategy has proved helpful, as the company recorded a sharp surge in the regular gross written premiums of insurance contracts of five years or above in the first two months this year, Vice President Su Hengxuan said.

Growth in the regular gross written premiums of insurance contracts of 10 years or above was also remarkable in the first two months, although it still too early to tell what the full-year operations will be like, Su said.

Yang said the growth last year has been remarkable given the size of China Life and the company will focus on optimizing its products portfolios instead of on growth.

Liu Jiade, vice president of China Life, said the company adopted a prudent investment strategy by reducing the proportion of equity investment and increased investment in fixed-income securities like debt securities and term deposits.

The prudence will carry well into 2009, as uncertainties remained in the market, although shares on the market worldwide have recently been attractive if judged according to their valuation levels, Liu added.

Price of China Life's Hong Kong-listed shares jumped 4.34 percent to close at HK$26.45 ($3.39) on Thursday.