Insurance premiums at Taikang Life Insurance have broken the 20 billion yuan mark (2.5 billion U.S. dollars), sources with the insurer said on Monday.

Taikang is the fifth insurer to bust the cumulative 20 billion yuan premium mark, after China Life Insurance, Ping'an Insurance, China Pacific Insurance and New China Life.

Taikang, founded in 1996, reported growth of up to 100 percent a year in its early days. The company reported 5.12 billion yuan of insurance premiums at the end of 2002, and broke the 10 billion yuan mark in 2003.

The rapid expansion of the insurer reflected the robust growth in the sector as a whole in recent years as more people came to see insurance as an investment as well as a guarantee against illness, unemployment or accidents.

During the 10th Five-year Plan (2001-2005) period, China's insurance sector saw annual growth of 35 percent on average, while the country's economy posted an annual growth rate of 8.8 percent.

Over the next five years, growth is projected to slow to a more manageable 15 percent per year, predicted Huang Huamin, an analyst with CITIC Securities.

According to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, by the end of November 2006, domestic and foreign firms in China had taken in a record 518 billion yuan of premiums. China's insurers now ranked 11th in the world in terms of premium intake.

China's insurance premiums are expected to exceed 1 trillion yuan by the end of 2010.

China fully opened its insurance sector to international investors on Dec. 11, fulfilling its commitment to the World Trade Organization.

Source: Xinhua