China's three listed insurance companies, China Life, PICC and Ping An Insurance, say they'll begin reporting their premium revenue on a monthly basis.

This is to comply with a new requirement by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The three companies will disclose the figures they report to the regulator, but have cautioned investors not to rely too much on that information.

They say the figures for the CIRC are prepared according to Chinese accounting standards, which aren't directly comparable to the information the companies will report in their earnings statements.

The listed insurers use international accounting standards or Hong Kong generally accepted accounting principles for their earnings statements.

(CRI August 31, 2004)