China's insurance premium income up 27.5 pct

BEIJING - China's insurance premium income continued steady growth, with a 27.5 percent year-on-year rise in 2016, the country's top insurance regulator said Tuesday.

Premium income reached 3.1 trillion yuan ($450.6 billion) from January to December, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Growth slightly retreated from the 28.9 percent rise in the first eleven months.

Premium income of life insurance companies climbed 31.72 percent to hit 1.74 trillion yuan. Property insurance companies' premium income rose 9.12 percent to 872 billion yuan.

By the end of December, the industry had combined assets totalling 15.12 trillion yuan, up 22.31 percent from the beginning of the year.