THE insurance regulator expects more insurers to list this year to boost their capital, in a trend which will strengthen corporate governance in the sector, according to reports yesterday.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission Vice Chairman Zhou Yanli said public listings had already become a trend among local insurance companies, the China Securities Journal reported. Zhou said several local insurance firms were already preparing either domestic or international initial public offerings, but did not mention company names.

China Life and Ping An Insurance, two of the country’s three biggest life insurers, have already floated shares on both Hong Kong and Shanghai markets, while smaller rival China Pacific, part-owned by U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group, is planning to list in Hong Kong late this year.

Meanwhile, second-tier insurers such as Beijing-based New China Life and Taikang Life have also said they plan to go public when market conditions are suitable, though neither of them have given a time frame on their potential listings.

The regulator hopes that a public listing will help local insurers improve their shareholder structure and make their businesses and operations more transparent, Zhou said.

Most analysts still regard China as an infant market for the life insurance business, as less than 4 percent of China’s 1.3 billion people have coverage. The sector is expanding fast as the government dismantles a cradle-to-grave welfare system.

Zhou said local insurers should speed up the pace of internal reform in order to grab business opportunities in the fast growing sector and catch up with international industry standards, and that the government encouraged such efforts by local players, the paper reported.

(SD-Agencies)