China real estate
The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has said that China’s insurance companies are soon to be allowed to invest in the domestic real estate sector.
Wu Dingfu, Chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, quoted in the state media, said the draft of the revised insurance law allows insurance companies to invest in ‘bonds, stocks, funds and real estate.’
Currently, insurers have to set up a separate investment arm to channel money to some of these markets and this new ruling may bring more investment into the top end of the property market.
Ping An Insurance put RMB4 billion in the property market last year through its investment firm Ping An Trust & Investment.
Several Chinese banks have been approved to invest in the insurance market and set up joint ventures with insurers.
The end result is that as China becomes more lenient in its policies to keep banking and insurance markets separate, the financial industries become more intertwined.
Source: China Business News