Taikang income quadruples

Taikang Life Insurance reported that its total premium income reached Yn6.5bn in 2002, four times the amount raised in 2001. The company attributed the increase to new products, such as comprehensive family policies and financial and savings programmes. The increase makes Taikang China's fifth largest life insurer, though its revenue accounts for just 2.8 per cent of the total premium pool. Foreign investors, including Winterthur Life and Pensions of Switzerland, Luxembourg's Bank Leu, Softbank of Japan and Singapore Investment, hold a combined 24.9 per cent stake in Taikang, the maximum permitted under Chinese law.