China Life Insurance Co, the country's largest life insurer, plans to raise US$2.6 billion in a share float on the Shanghai bourse to become China's first insurer to be publicly traded at home.

Directors approved the sale of 1.5 billion new shares representing 5.3 per cent of its enlarged capital, the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong bourse yesterday.

"Our main target buyers are strategic investors, institutional and retail investors," the statement said, noting that the proposal is subject to shareholder approval.

The sale marks the first time China Life will sell shares to domestic investors and is likely to be the mainland's biggest domestic equity issue. Bank of China, the nation's largest foreign exchange lender, raised 20 billion yuan (US$2.5 billion) in a Shanghai offering last month.

"With more capital pouring in, the domestic share sale will help China Life quicken its business expansion and strengthen its solvency abilities," said Dong Chen, an analyst with CITIC China Securities. "And the return of more blue chips will also help revitalize the domestic market."

China Life may hire CITIC Securities Co and China Galaxy Securities Co to manage the sale, China's Economic Observer quoted unnamed sources as saying.

The insurer's Hong Kong shares closed at HK$13.88 (US$1.8) yesterday, up 2.97 per cent on the previous day.

According to China Life's statement, its first-half net profit increased to 8.96 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion), up 72.15 per cent from 5.208 billion yuan (US$650 million) a year earlier, fuelled by strong premium growth and higher returns on investments.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, which is also traded in Hong Kong, also has plans to float domestic shares by the end of the year and has appointed China International Capital Corporation, CITIC Securities and China Galaxy Securities as sponsors to raise 10 billion yuan (US$1.25 billion), insiders said.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)