China's Insurance Premiums Rise 5.9 Pct in First Half

BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Premiums for China's insurance companies hit 853.23 billion yuan (135.4 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The growth was one percentage point higher than that of the end of the first quarter, the commission said, adding that the insurance market is gradually stabilizing.

As of the end of June, the total assets of the nation's insurers came in at 6.78 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.3 percent compared with that of the beginning of the year, while net assets gained 21.2 percent to 674.66 billion yuan, the commission said.

It said 94.6 percent of insurance companies had met solvency standards and there have been no systematic or regional risks in the sector thus far.