By Song Hongmei (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-07-17 16:38

Opening the door for insurers to plow more money into domestic stocks caters to their development, according to insurance insiders.

Despite fluctuations in the stock market, the policy demonstrates that CIRC thinks the stock market will remain bullish in the long run, said a source close to the regulator.

Although they are allowed to invest more money, insurance companies will stick to their investment principles, pursuing long-term and stable returns and not buying stocks immediately at a large scale, industry insiders said.

China has relaxed restrictions on insurers' investment options over the past two years. In 2005, insurance companies were allowed to invest one to two percent of their assets in domestic equities. And the ceiling was gradually raised to five percent in 2006.

According to CIRC, Chinese insurers earned 8.9 billion yuan by investing in the country's bullish stock market last year. The yield of stock investment for the entire insurance industry was 27.1 percent, more than four times that of returns on the insurance funds.

The insurance sector made 93.2 billion yuan on all investments last year, with a yield of 5.82 percent and doubling that of 2005.

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