The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest lender by market value, said Thursday it would buy a 60 percent stake in French group AXA's Chinese life insurance venture in a bid to expand into the lucrative business.

Once the deal is completed, the lender will become the dominant shareholder of the Shanghai-based AXA-Minmetals Assurance Co., while AXA Group and China Minmetals Corp. will own 27.5 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively, of the three-way joint venture.

Founded in 1999, the AXA-Minmetals Assurance Co. was the first Sino-French insurer established in China.

The company's premiums rose 54 percent year on year to 830 million yuan (123.88 U.S. million dollars) in the first three quarters of this year.

"ICBC's investment in the insurer is part of its efforts to expand its business scope and enhance competitiveness," ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing said.

However, the completion of the deal is subject to approval from various Chinese agencies.

The lender also said its net profit in the first three quarters rose 27.19 percent from one year earlier to 127.22 billion yuan on the back of higher interest income.