China Life A-shares, profile shoot up

China Life A-shares more than doubled in price during their Shanghai debut, raising the profile of the company and making it the third biggest insurer in the world by market value. China Life saw its shares rise 106% Tuesday from US$2.41 (RMB18.88) to US$4.98 (RMB38.93), raising US$3.5 billion and giving the company a market value of US$141 billion. It now sits behind AIG and Berkshire Hathaway in the global insurance rankings, the Financial Times reported. The company is the first insurer to list domestically and only a few shares are available for public trading. Its Hong Kong shares slid yesterday 4.7% to finish at US$3.28 (HK$25.60) the Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, the company could become the first insurer to invest in overseas stock markets after China's insurance regulator approved a joint venture with US fund manager Franklin Templeton.