The yuan-denominated stock of China Life Insurance Co Ltd the nation's biggest insurer, more than doubled on its debut in Shanghai, making it the second-biggest insurer in the world by market value.

The Beijing-based company's stock changed hands at 39.62 yuan at 9:38 a.m., up from an offer price of 18.88 yuan.

China Life raised 28.3 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) selling 1.5 billion shares on the mainland last month. The domestic listing, the first by an insurer in China, drew bids for about 49 times the stock on offer. Cutbacks in welfare benefits and rising wealth are spurring more of the nation's 1.3 billion people to buy protection and investment products.

"China has a huge population and insurance penetration is still low,'' said Shi Bo, who oversees more than 9 billion yuan of funds at China Asset Management Co. in Beijing and ordered stock in the China Life offering.

Total insurance premiums, which grew 14 percent to 493 billion yuan in 2005, accounted for less than 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product. That compares with more than 9 percent in the U.S. and about 10 percent in Hong Kong, data from Swiss Reinsurance Co. shows.

China Life has a market value of $132 billion, the second- biggest insurer in the world after American International Group Inc.'s $186 billion.

China Life first sold shares in 2003 in Hong Kong and New York. Its publicly traded stock in Hong Kong rose 2.9 percent to close at HK$26.85 yesterday. Trading starts at 10 a.m. in Hong Kong.

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