China Life Insurance Co, with 964 billion yuan (US$141 billion) in assets, said it's been approached by foreign banks and securities firms seeking to raise money after more than US$500 billion of credit market losses worldwide.

Chairman Yang Chao said the company was pleased with its US$300 million investment in the initial public offering of Visa Inc, whose shares have climbed 24 percent since they started trading in March in New York.

"A lot of foreign institutions, including banks, securities companies, insurers, and funds, have approached us for investments," Yang told reporters in Dunhuang in China's northwestern Gansu Province. "We won't let go of any opportunities like Visa." Yang didn't give any names of companies seeking funds.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and Merrill Lynch & Co are among global financial firms scrambling to raise capital after US$506 billion in losses and asset writedowns following the year-old global credit crunch brought on by the collapse of the United States subprime mortgage market, according to Bloomberg News.

China Life, the nation's biggest insurance company, has been looking to diversify its portfolio of investments after a 60-percent slide in China's benchmark stock index eroded income from equity holdings. Net income fell 32 percent to 15.8 billion yuan in the first six months this year.

Its shares fell 1.7 percent to HK$29 in Hong Kong yesterday, and lost 0.12 percent to 23.99 yuan in Shanghai. They are down 28 percent this year on the Hong Kong bourse, and 59 percent on the Shanghai exchange.

China Life has more than 70 million individual and group life policies and annuities, as well as long-term health insurance policies in force by the end of 2005, according to its Website. Its sales force comprises 676,000 individual agents by the end of June this year, it said last month.

"Overall, China Life's foreign investment strategy has been conservative and cautious," said Fan Dizhao, who helps manage about US$5.1 billion at Guotai Asset Management Co in Shanghai. "Visa was a successful example for them. There are a lot of investment opportunities as the stock market volatilities mean that some companies are undervalued."

Lehman has been in talks with Korea Development Bank for a possible investment.

(Shanhai Daily September 10, 2008)