China Insurers’ Return Rate Plumbs 15-Year Low

What’s new: The average annual rate of return on Chinese insurers’ investments last year tumbled to the lowest in 15 years, although it exceeded 2022’s rate if unrealized gains were counted, official data showed.

Insurance firms’ investments yielded 2.23% in 2023, down 1.53 percentage points from the previous year, data released last week by the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) showed. The reading was the lowest since 2008, when the rate slumped to 1.89% from 12.17% the previous year amid the global financial crisis.