CPIC to Attach Importance to Pension Insurance

China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd. (CPIC, SEHK: 2601 and SHSE: 601601) will attach more importance to pension insurance this year, Huo Lianhong, president of the dual-listed insurer, said in an interview.

In addition to paying more attention to consolidating Changjiang Pension Insurance Co., Ltd., it will make preparation for product pilot of the oncoming personal income tax-deferred pension insurance. It has bought into Bank of Hangzhou, a city-level commercial lender in east China's Zhejiang Province, for CNY 1.3 billion. But unlike Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (Ping An, SHSE: 601318 and SEHK: 2318), it will continue focusing on insurance business.

Statistics show that driven by rebound in the domestic market and increased return on investment, it captured a net profit of CNY 7.36 billion in 2009, soaring 186.3 percent year on year, with earnings per share of CNY 0.95. Weighted average return on net assets inched up by 9.3 percentage points to 14 percent, with net assets per share surging 39.2 percent to CNY 8.8.