China Regulator Drafts Rules to Widen Insurers’ Investments

China’s insurance regulator said it will broaden insurers’ investment scopes in bonds, infrastructure, property and overseas markets to boost support to the real economy and capital-market reforms.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission has drafted 10 investment rules for insurance companies, some of which are “basically ripe” for publication, the watchdog said in a statement on its website today.

The regulations also will allow short selling and margin trading that can “create additional income” for insurers, and rules on derivatives to help them hedge against stock-market volatility, the CIRC said without giving details.

The regulator last month allowed insurance companies to buy exchange-traded corporate bonds that are unsecured, as well as non-financial company debt and unsecured convertible debt issued by commercial banks, as the government seeks to expand the bond market.

--Zhang Dingmin. Editors: Andreea Papuc

To contact the Bloomberg News staff for this story: Zhang Dingmin in Beijing at Dzhang14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andreea Papuc at apapuc1@bloomberg.net