Chinese insurance companies' investments in shares jumped 173.62 percent over the first half of this year to a total 43.47 billion yuan (US$5.43 billion).

 

Investments in all fund types, however, dropped 29.3 percent from the beginning of the year to 78.268 billion yuan, the Xinhua-run Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

 

Direct share investment accounted for 2.75 percent of insurance companies' total investments, up 1.62 percentage points from the beginning of the year, while the ratio of fund investments is 4.95 percent, down 2.9 percentage points, the newspaper quoted sources with the China Insurance Regulatory Commission as saying.

 

China's stock market has been bullish since the beginning of the year, with the Shanghai composite index jumping about 50 percent to around 1,700 points.

 

Insurance companies also increased investment in bonds by 16.67 percent over the first half to 865.78 billion yuan, accounting for 54.77 percent of total investments, 2.11 percentage points higher than the start of the year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency July 27, 2006)