Chinese insurance companies' premium income topped 1.01 trillion yuan (157.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of 2011, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said on its website.

In the first eight months, premium income from the property insurance business rose to 308.2 billion yuan, while life insurance premium income grew to 698.8 billion yuan, according to the CIRC.

The industry's total assets stood at 5.64 trillion yuan, the CIRC said.