China Life Insurance Company Limited, a leading Chinese mainland insurance company listed in Hong Kong, announced Tuesday that its net profit in the year of 2005 increased 29.77 percent over the previous year.

The company said the net profit totaling at 9.3 billion RMB (1.1 billion U.S. dollars) in 2005 was primarily driven by adjustments in the structure of the business, improvement in investment income and management practices.

It announced that basic and fully diluted earnings per share were 0.35 RMB and the board recommended the payment of a final dividend of 0.05 RMB per share for the year to its shareholders.

The company said its leading position in the life insurance market in China remained the same with a market share of 44.07 percent.

Source: Xinhua