Ping An looks to overseas investments

Ping An Insurance looks set to become the first Chinese insurer to enter overseas capital markets this year, China Daily reported. According to the newspaper, the Hong Kong-listed company is the only Chinese insurer to have applied to foreign exchange regulators for an investment quota, four months after rules were introduced allowing qualified insurers to invest in overseas markets. The Shanghai Branch of American International Assurance Co Ltd (AIA), the largest foreign life insurer operating in China, has also sent an application for an investment quota. Until last August Chinese insurers had been restricted to putting cash in bank deposits, bonds and securities investment funds and had been pressing for access to overseas markets to boost investment yields.