China will soon let insurance firms plough more money into equities and other assets overseas, including London- and New York-listed stocks, and is expected to let domestic insurers invest 15 percent of total assets abroad, up from 5 percent now.

"Currently, domestic insurers' investment channels are quite limited, the risk for investing in mainland bonds is low, but by globalising and diversifying investments, our investment portfolio could be more balanced," said Louis Cheung, an executive director of Ping An, in comments embargoed until Monday.

Ping An had 494.3 billion yuan ($65 billion) in total assets at the end of last year, meaning it could invest at least 74 billion yuan abroad if China lifts the cap to 15 percent.

"Once the new rule is implemented, we will initially look into financial, infrastructure and property sector investment opportunities in overseas markets," said Cheung.

Ping An becomes a component of Hong Kong's main stock index on Monday and it plans eventually to team up with Wall Street firms Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to invest in emerging markets such as India and eastern Europe.

Ping An currently has a $1.7 billion quota under the Qualified Domestic Institutional Investor scheme, which allows it to buy overseas-listed Chinese stocks.

Ping An's targeted investment return for its overseas porftolio should be at least 4.5 percent, Cheung said.

Related readings:  Ping An to become Hang Seng Index counter in June  Ping An's Q1 net profits 4b yuan Insurers to invest in overseas equity markets  Insurance companies to buy overseas stocks

China gave the nod for its insurers, banks and fund companies to invest abroad through the QDII program last April.

The government has been relaxing restrictions on insurers by allowing them to buy equity stakes in banks and to finance long-term infrastructure projects.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)