BOCOM eyes top insurer for growth

Bank of Communications (BOCOM), China's fourth-largest lender by market value, may launch its own insurance unit as early as this year as part of its efforts to become a financial conglomerate in the long run, sources said.

The bank plans to buy a stake in China Life-CMG Life Insurance Co, an insurer now 51-percent owned by China Life Insurance, Dicky Yip, vice-president of the bank, said in Shanghai yesterday, but declined to reveal details of the deal.

The move echoed earlier market rumors that a slew of major Chinese lenders, including China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, are eyeing stake buys in the nation's insurers in a bid to diversify their financial services portfolios.