China Life, the country's biggest life insurer, saw its shares up 5.1 percent from the opening price to close at 38.89 yuan (US$4.98) per share this morning on its debut on the Shanghai bourse.

 

The closing price was 106 percent higher than the initial public offering (IPO) price of 18.88 yuan (US$2.42) per share. China Life opened at 37 yuan (US$4.74) per share on the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. This was 96 percent up from the IPO price.

 

"January 9 of 2007 is destined to be a significant day in the history of China Life," said Yang Chao, chairman of the China Life Insurance Co. The listing would allow mainland investors to share the benefits of China's booming insurance market, said Yang.

 

China Life has 44.1 percent of the country's insurance market, which has reported average annual growth of 35 percent over the past five years. By listing in the mainland they'd seize the opportunity to shift the focus of development from speed and scale to quality, said Yang.

 

The company, which became the first Chinese insurer to trade in the yuan-denominated A-share market and the world's largest listed life insurer, has raised 28.32 billion yuan (US$3.63 billion) from its IPO of 1.5 billion A shares.

 

China Life, already listed in Hong Kong and New York, opened at HK$28.6 per share in Hong Kong today. This is 6.1 percent higher than the previous close.

 

Analysts say China Life's return to the mainland market will help improve the overall quality of listed companies in the A-share market.

 

The company broke domestic stock market records, freezing a total 832.5 billion yuan (US$106.64 billion) for the Shanghai IPO and a price-to-earning ratio of 92.6 for the IPO price.

 

Under a new Shanghai Stock Exchange regulation, China Life shares will not be included in the Shanghai Composite Index and other indices until it has been listed for 10 trading days.

 

Chinese investors have been favoring newly issued stocks especially major bluechips, often driving their share prices up sharply on the first trading day. This leads to distorted stock indices.

 

The Shanghai Composite Index closed at 2752.79 points this morning. This is 1.68 percent up from the previous close.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 9, 2007)