Shares of China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co. Ltd, (CPIC), which raised 30 billion yuan in initial public offering (IPO) earlier this month, rose 70 percent in their market debut on Tuesday, buoyed by the company's key position in the insurance industry.

 

Local-currency A shares of the CPIC opened at 51 yuan on Monday, compared with their IPO price of 30 yuan.

 

All proceeds raised from the shares will be used to increase the company's capital to boost its growth, said Tuesday's China Securities Journal.

 

The newspaper said the company issued a total of 1 billion A shares, with 300 million shares opened for institutional investors and the remainder for online subscriptions from individual investors.

 

Some investors interviewed by the newspaper said they would buy shares when they were within 50 yuan, while some set the purchase ceiling at 55 yuan.

 

Analysts considered prices beyond 55 yuan might bring risks and put pressure on the entire stock market.

 

Founded in 1991, CPIC ranks third in China's life insurance market, with a share of 9.5 percent and 185,000 sales employees working in 3,270 sub-branches.

 

The insurer ranks second in the property insurance market, with a share of 11.6 percent and a team of about 10,000 sales representatives in 2,009 sub-branches.

 

It has become the third Chinese insurer to be listed on the A-share market, joining China Life and China Ping An. CPIC will issue no more than 900 million H-shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange after making its debut in Shanghai.

 

China International Capital Corp. and UBS Securities Co. are the lead underwriters.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2007)