Apr. 27, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., the nation's largest insurance company in terms of premiums, reported a RMB 8.89 billion net profit in the first quarter this year mainly due to the strong performance of its investment portfolios.

According to the announcement on Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the gross written premiums China Life collected from its life insurance products in the first three months increased to RMB 73.86 billion, representing a market share of 51.7% in China's life insurance industry whereas this number was 45.27% as at the end of December 2006.

As of Mar. 31, 2007, total assets of the company reached RMB 760.29 billion, an increase of RMB 33.21 billion or 4.57% compared to the end of 2006 and the shareholders' equity of China Life also increased 9.99% to RMB 127.1 billion from RMB 115.56 as at the end of last year.

China Life again saw significant returns from its investment portfolios resulting from the continuously bullish stock market. The total investment income was RMB 16.76 billion for the first quarter, accounting for more than 72% of that of the whole year of 2006 which was RMB 23.2 billion.

Under the new accounting standard effective Jan. 1 this year, China Life posted a diluted earning per share (EPS) of RMB 0.31 and its return on net assets reached 7.29% in first quarter.

Being the parent company of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., China Life Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd. is reportedly planning to go public as a whole group by issuing A-shares on China's domestic equity market. However, China Life Insurance (Group) has refuted reports of its planned IPO.