China's insurers garnered premiums worth 382.1 billion yuan (US$47.7 billion) in the first eight months, up nearly 14 percent on the same period last year, according to statistics from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

 

Property insurance premiums rose 15.85 percent to 99.89 billion yuan while life insurance premiums were up 12.9 percent to 248 billion yuan.

 

Premiums for health insurance climbed 16.25 percent to 24 billion yuan and accident insurance premiums reached 10.19 billion yuan, up 16.55 percent.

 

During the first eight months, China's insurers paid out 85.68 billion yuan in indemnities, up nearly 20 percent. Pay-outs on property cover ranked highest at 48.86 billion yuan, followed by life insurance (25.6 billion yuan), health (7.99 billion yuan) and accidents (3.22 billion yuan).

 

By the end of August, the total assets of China's insurers amounted to 1.758 trillion yuan, up nearly 15 percent from the beginning of this year.

 

Jiangsu ranked first in terms of premium revenues, followed by Guangdong, Shanghai, Beijing and Shandong.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2006)