Taikang Life Insurance Co, China's fourth largest life insurer, is making plans to secure a public listing in 2009, the company said.

"We haven't decided where to list," said Qiu Xichuan, Taikang's secretary of the board, adding the mode of listing will depend on the market situation.

Due to the rapid growth of premium and strict risk management, Taikang Life is expected to post an after-tax profit of 1.7 billion yuan (US$249 million) for 2008, with the solvency ability exceeding 200 percent. The insurer's premium income for 2008 rose 69 percent from a year before to 57.7 billion yuan.

Taikang's president Chen Dongsheng told reporters earlier that a life insurer is qualified for a listing when its annual profit exceeds 800 million yuan. And Taikang has been profitable for five years in a row, paving the way for the listing.

China's stock market, after plummeting near 70 percent last year, is expected to stabilize in the second half of 2009, providing an better investment environment for more companies to reconsider their listing plans.

(China Daily January 19, 2009)