China Life Insurance Company Limited bought shares with market value of 5.932 billion yuan (741 million U.S. dollars), equal to 1.2 percent of its total investment in 2005, the Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

By the end of 2005, China Life, a leading Chinese mainland insurance company, had investment asset worth 494.356 billion yuan, the newspaper said.

Chinese financial authorities have said they allow insurance companies to put up to 5 percent of their total assets into the stock market.

By the end of 2005, the profit rate of China Life's investment reached 3.86 percent, or 0.37 percentage points higher than that in the previous year.

China's stock market has maintained strong growth since late 2005, and some investors believe the long-time bearish period has ended.

Source: Xinhua