Chinese insurers' profit projected to fall to 100b yuan

Profits fell at China's insurance companies  in the first quarter as the new coronavirus pandemic in the mainland  hurt businesses and investment returns, but the market remained stable as insurers took a string of efforts to mitigate the impacts of the epidemic.

The combined profits of insurers were predicted at 100.2 billion yuan in the first quarter, down by 14.44 percent year-on-year, Shanghai Securities News reported today, citing industry data.

Premium income grew by 1.78 percent on-year to 1.31 trillion yuan, while that of property insurance companies increased  by 4.17 percent to 360.1 billion yuan.

Amid the virus pandemic, the income of health insurance products surged by 21.6 percent on-year to 264.1 billion yuan.

The country's four leading online insurance companies including ZhongAn and Anxin reported strong performance, with income surging by 75.25 percent on-year.

Earlier data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed the total assets of the insurance industry stood at 21.72 trillion yuan at the end of March, up by 13.66 percent from a year ago.