The amount of money put on the IPO hit a record high of 832.5 billion yuan (US$104 billion), 6.6 per cent higher than that of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China's largest lender.

Institutional investors played a major role in the subscription.

Ten major domestic insurance players, such as Ping An, Taiking and Huatai, took a total of 137.3 million shares, while 136 fund companies constituted the largest group of off-line subscribers.

Investors' confidence in China Life is also based on the skyrocketing development of the country's insurance sector, which has maintained an average annual growth of 30 per cent over the past two decades.

China's life insurance premiums rose 11 per cent year-on-year to 379.8 billion yuan (US$48.7 billion) in the first 11 months of 2006, according to the CIRC.

China Life, which is already listed on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges, has gained 44.1 per cent of the country's insurance market.

The fund raised through the IPO will further strengthen its position and fuel its expansion into other sectors.

The CIRC approved its plan to set up a property and casualty company on Wednesday.

Shenzhen-based Ping An, which has the second-biggest share of China's life insurance market, also plans to sell shares in Shanghai in the first quarter of next year.

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