PICC underwriting to be profitable

Property and Casualty Co's underwriting operations should be profitable this year, said Wu Yan, chairman of China's biggest non-life insurer.

The operation "should be able to achieve" the goal of making a profit even amid flooding in some parts of China, he told a forum in Shanghai yesterday. PICC's profit jumped 16-fold last

year as the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index surged 80 per cent, boosting investment returns. Underwriting losses narrowed 21 per cent to Y2.06bn, as net premium growth outpaced increases in claims.