China Life refutes contact with Buffett

BEIJING, Aug 26, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- LFC | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- China Life Insurance Co., Ltd. ( 601628.SH; 2628.HK) Tuesday refuted market hearsay that it has contacted with Warren E. Buffett for its plan to let in foreign investors.

China Business News quoted Yang Chao, chairman of China Life, as saying that the company has made significant progress in looking for strategic investors and overseas investment, but it was not yet the time to disclose the details.

China Life shifted its investment targets from stocks to fixed- income items this year to prevent loss from the bearish stock market.

The insurer deems corporate bond as a good choice and has bought a small amount of non-guaranteed corporate bonds, said Liu Jiade, vice president of China Life.

Under Hong Kong accounting standards, China Life posted 79.6 percent of its investment in fixed-income assets in the first half of 2008, up 7.7 percent year on year, according to China Life half-year report.

It included 58.6 percent of bond investment and 21 percent of time deposit. Meanwhile, the portion of equity investment dropped from 23 percent at 2007 yearend to 13.3 percent.

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