China Eases Rules for Insurers in Bid to Boost Flows into Stocks

(Bloomberg) — China has taken a move that effectively allows insurance firms to make longer-term investments in shares, adding to a drumbeat of support measures to revitalize the country’s stock market.

The Ministry of Finance will from now on evaluate insurers’ return on net assets based on a combination of a three-year cycle and a one-year time frame, instead of just the latter previously, it said in a notice released Monday. The ministry said the change, effective immediately, is aimed at guiding long-term capital to play a stronger role as market “stabilizer.”