China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has published new rules to allow the insurers to invest up to 5% of their total assets in private equity and related financial products and 10% in real estate.
The move by the regulator is expected to inject a fresh funding of up to $100bn into unlisted firms and the property sector.
The regulator said that the new rules would enable insurers to better match their assets and liabilities, improve asset allocation, ease investment pressure, diversify risks, and protect asset safety as well as the interests of policy-holders, according to the Reuters.