China's biggest life insurance company is planning a share sale on the US market that could be the biggest flotation in the world this year. China Life is hoping to make $2.5bn (�1.5bn) by selling up to a quarter of its shares in New York.
The firm has 45% of the mainland Chinese life insurance market.
A number of foreign firms are already active in China as part of joint ventures, but are generally only licensed to operate in specific cities.
Rapid growth
China Life was restructured earlier this year specifically to allow an overseas flotation as the Chinese government split it off from its state-owned parent, awarding it all life contracts sold after mid-1999.
China is undergoing rapid economic growth and an equally rapid expansion of its urban middle class.
At the same time, cradle-to-grave government safety nets are steadily being shredded, and an easy entry into the mainland insurance market could therefore prove attractive to foreign investors.
The sheer size of the flotation will also attract attention, since it far exceeds the biggest this year to date - the �1.14bn ($1.94bn) raised by telephone directory group Yell in London in July.
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