In the financial sector, Bank of China rose 1.9% and New China Life Insurance rallied 3.3%.
In June 2003, China Life formally split into the parent, called China Life Insurance (Group) Co.
Underwriters raced to get China Life ready, recognizing the feverish demand for shares in promising Chinese concerns.
Xia believes China Life would be the prime beneficiary of expected growth in the Chinese insurance market.
Last week, the gurus decided the bubble had burst, at least when it comes to China Life Insurance.
Lower tax rates will also help companies like China Life Insurance in 2007 and 2008, according to Xia.
China Life controlled half of the country's life-insurance market, which has been growing at more than 35% a year.
Although China's insurance regulator later allowed companies to cut their guaranteed rates, many unprofitable policies festered on China Life's books.
China Life had been negotiating earlier this year to buy AIA and AIG's aircraft-leasing arm, but ultimately the deal fell through.
China Pacific Insurance fell 3.4% and China Life Insurance closed 1.5% lower.
Last week, it was announced that New China Life Insurance Co.
In 1999 People's Insurance was split into four independent units, one of which focused on life insurance and was named China Life.
By March 2003, China Life's underwriting syndicate expanded to include Citigroup Inc.
China Life Insurance Company, for instance, could no longer maintain M100 interest.
In 2002, CICC decided to tackle a China Life listing, bankers say.
Gemdale rose 1.7% and Poly Real Estate Group added 2%, while Bank of China improved by 1.7% and China Life Insurance advanced 1.6%.
China Life said its sales force of about 740, 000 agents will be focused more on higher-margin policy sales rather than short-term or single payment products.
Most analysts consider China Life the country's most attractive life company because it has a wider distribution network and stronger brand recognition than its competitors.
Shinkong and China Life rely much more on first-year premiums than Cathay and, since the first-year premium is such a low-margin business, it means lower profits.
That's because over half the investment portfolios of both Ping An and China Life are in bonds and other fixed-income assets, while only 10% is in equities.
Xia is bullish on Tsingtao Brewery and China Life Insurance.
Today AIG remains the only global insurer that solely owns its China life insurance subsidiary, while other players must accede to partial ownership by the Chinese government or Chinese partners.
When China's central bank cut interest rates seven times between 1996 and 1999, China Life found itself paying out more to policy holders than it could earn through bank deposits.
China Life, Ping An and China Pacific, the first-, second- and fourth-largest life insurers in China, respectively, are already publicly traded, and Taiking Life, number five, is expected to have an initial public offering within the next 12 months.
Meanwhile, China Life's Chairman Yang Chao says it also has plans to become a financial holding company and has been buying stakes in a number of China's banks and other financial institutions to further that aim (See story "Ready to Deal").
American films that opened in China after "Life of Pi" and are awaiting their cut of box office grosses in the country include "Skyfall, " released by Sony Pictures Entertainment, "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" from Time Warner Inc.
Although basic goods in China are still relatively cheap, it is costly to lead a middle-class life in China.
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