Insurance association of China says market share of foreign insurers has risen

BEIJING (Reuters) - The overall market share of foreign insurance firms in China by premium rose to 6.48% as of April, up 1.78 percentage points from a year earlier, the Insurance Association of China said on Thursday.

China hopes to attract more foreign firms to invest and establish insurance institutions in the country, the association said in a statement released at a regular briefing by the banking and insurance regulator.

The total assets of China's insurance industry reached 18.3 trillion yuan (£2.10 trillion) as of end-2018, with premiums totalling 3.8 trillion yuan, according to the association's statement.

(Reporting by Cheng Leng and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)