China gave domestic insurers approval Friday to invest on overseas stock markets for the first time, opening a new investment channel for the likes of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

The approval comes after insurers were given the green light in August to buy overseas debt.

But they would only be allowed to invest in stocks of domestic companies listed overseas for now, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement published on its Web site (www.circ.gov.cn).

 "This will widen investment channels for insurers' premiums, help them adjust their investment mix and enhance their earnings," the insurance watchdog said, adding the move had been approved by the State Council.

Insurers would be able to use their foreign exchange capital to invest in overseas stocks, but only up to a maximum of 10 percent of their approved total quotas for foreign exchange investment, the regulator said.

Their investment in a single company must not exceed 5 percent of the value of the firm's total shares, it said.

Domestic insurers such as Ping An Insurance Co. have lobbied hard for the government to widen their investment choices as they are facing massive future policy obligations and growing foreign competition as China prizes open its insurance market.

Yet the government, worried that failure to meet policy obligations could foment social instability, has confined insurers to bank deposits and, with restrictions, to bonds. Insurance companies were allowed to invest in domestic stocks only this year.

(Shenzhen Daily June 20, 2005)