China Life targets foreign bonds

Aiming to buy foreign debt paper, China Life Insurance revealed plans to become the first mainland insurer to invest in overseas markets, the South China Morning Post reported. According to a company official, China's largest insurer plans to seek approval from regulators to start investing some of its US$3m in foreign reserves in the first half of next year. The company's forex stockpile derives largely from proceeds from last year's initial public offerings in Hong Kong and New York. New rules published in August allow an insurer to invest up to 80% of its forex holdings overseas but investment plans are subject to approval.