CIRC to widen insurers' investment in real estate

China Insurance Regulatory Commission Chairman Wu Dingfu said that the investment scope of Chinese insurance companies should be widened to include real estate and private equity placements, Dow Jones reported. The statement was prompted by the modest return on investment insurers received in the first half of the year due to the relatively conservative range of investment options available to them. The Chinese insurance sector generated combined 1H returns of 1.93%, producing US$11.1 billion in revenue. Most of those returns were produced by investments in savings deposits and bonds; only 15.1% of funds were invested in higher performing but riskier instruments like stocks. However, premiums did well, rising 33.6% year-on-year to US$117.8.