China to allow insurers to invest more in real estate

China’s insurers will be given more freedom to invest in real estate under the terms of a new draft revision of the country’s insurance law, the Wall Street Journal reported. The move would help China’s insurers diversify their holdings while bringing in new sources of capital for the country’s battered property markets. The revised insurance law is currently making its way through China’s legislature and is set to be passed later in the year. China’s insurers have been lobbying for longer-term assets to match the big payouts expected as China’s rapidly aging population retires and analysts see the new law as a victory for the insurance industry.