Insurance premium income falls

China’s insurance sector saw its premium income drop 5.9 percent year-on-year to 1.9 trillion yuan ($286 billion) in the first five months of this year, according to official data.

The decline came as authorities enhanced regulation of the sector to defuse financial risk.

Property insurance firms posted a 15.3 percent increase, but life insurance companies, which account for over 70 percent of the total premium income, registered an 11.5 percent dip, data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed.