China Life Insurance, the country's largest insurance firm, has applied to change itself from a wholly state-owned enterprise into a shareholding company, with the aim of seeking a listing, South China Morning Post said. The company has appointed international auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess assets and undertake other work. Company president Wang Xiangzhang also said that China Life was in negotiations with foreign financial institutions to sell strategic stakes, but no final decision had been made.
Elsewhere, China Reinsurance president Dai Fengju said that his company was in talks with global firms to sell a small portion of its shares. China Pacific Insurance confirmed that it had applied for a stock exchange listing in China but was waiting for market conditions to improve.
