Biggest global listing

China Life set a late December date for its initial public offering (IPO) in New York and in Hong Kong. The US$2.5 billion IPO was expected to be the world's largest flotation in 2003. China Life controls 45% of the mainland's life assurance market. In the prospectus that it filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the Chinese insurer said that it planned to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to augment its capital base.