Half-year profit of insurer China Pacific jumps 25.3 pct

The net profit of China Pacific Insurance, the country's third largest life insurer, jumped 25.3 percent year on year to 6.85 billion yuan (1.11 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2014, the company said on Sunday.

The insurer, listed in both Shanghai and Hong Kong, said its operating revenue in the first half rose 9.7 percent from a year earlier to 114.15 billion yuan.

Of that, the company's gross written premiums of insurance contracts accounted for 108.41 billion yuan, an increase of 9.9 percent from a year earlier.

Basic earnings per share also jumped 25.3 percent year-on-year to 0.76 yuan.

On the back of strong performance, China Pacific was ranked the 384th on the list of 2014 Fortune Global 500, up 45 places from last year, the company said.

For the second half of this year, China Pacific said the newly- promulgated policy by the State Council (China's cabinet) on the insurance industry will inject new vitality into the sector.