Chinese insurers eager to raise money to fuel their expansion and boost solvency are lining up to issue shares on both the Shanghai and the Hong Kong bourses.

China Life, the country's largest life insurer, is expected to float a 28 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) A-share listing this month on the Shanghai bourse, making it the second-biggest share sale ever on the mainland. It will be the first insurance company to sell shares on the mainland.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), which last week published new rules governing initial public offerings by insurers, will start reviewing the offer today.

Beijing-based China Life may set a price of no less than 15 yuan (US$1.9) a share, a company insider said, adding the price of the A shares will be around 10 per cent less than the Hong Kong shares, a usual practice for dual-listed companies.

According to Olive Xia, an analyst at Hong Kong-based Core Pacific-Yamaichi, the price could be set at 17 yuan (US$2.15) a share, implying China Life will raise about 25.5 billion yuan (US$3.3 billion).

The life insurer has appointed China Galaxy Securities Co and China International Capital Co to arrange its offering of A shares.

China Life's shares rose 0.949 per cent to HK$19.14 (US$2.45) at the close in Hong Kong. The stock has almost tripled this year as rising incomes in the world's fastest-growing major economy spur demand for policies.

Ping An Insurance, China's second-largest life insurer, is also catching up. It has filed an application to launch an estimated US$4.5 billion A-share offer in the first quarter of 2007, the Shanghai Securities News said, quoting unnamed sources.

But according to Sheng Ruisheng, the spokesman of Ping An Insurance Group, there is still no timetable.

Ping An Insurance (Group) Co Ltd has submitted its application to the CSRC, following China Life.

Ping An has said it intends to sell up to 1.15 billion A shares. Based on its current Hong Kong share price, which has more than doubled in the past year, the offer would raise an estimated US$4.5 billion.

China Life and Ping An, which have listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, are among several of the largest Chinese companies that plan to come back to the mainland bourse.

The government is encouraging well-performing domestic companies to list shares in Shanghai or Shenzhen and give mainland investors access to large-capitalization stocks.

"The bullish sentiment in the A-share market has also provided them with the perfect timing to raise money," said an analyst with CITIC Securities. "The domestic listing will improve their solvency capabilities and enlarge their capital base."

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co (CPIC), China Reinsurance and Taikang Life Insurance, are also itching to make their initial public offerings (IPOs).

Sources said CPIC, the country's third-largest insurer, was likely to finish its IPO in Hong Kong before the end of next year. It has picked three underwriters for the Hong Kong listing: JP Morgan, CICC and UBS. CPIC's spokesman declined to comment.

China Reinsurance, the country's only re-insurer, is also planning to list on both the Hong Kong and Shanghai bourses next year after a capital injection from Central Huijin Investment Co Ltd, the firm's top management said.

"Floating both A and H shares will be ideal for us," a senior manager told China Daily.
China Reinsurance has about 90 per cent of the domestic market.

The country's fifth-largest life insurer, Taikang Life Insurance, is also mulling a listing plan.

"The IPO is not far away," a company insider told China Daily, declining to reveal more details.

China's insurance sector has maintained an average of 30 per cent growth in the past two decades.