Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, China's second-largest life insurer, is set to launch the country's second-biggest domestic initial public offering (IPO) in March after it received approval from the regulator.

Ping An, 19.9 percent-owned by HSBC, applied to the China Securities Regulatory Commission to issue up to 1.15 billion A shares in a Shanghai

Ping An's A-share price will be around 95 to 90 percent of that of its H shares. Ping An's Hong Kong-listed shares closed at HK$38.35 yesterday, up 0.92 percent. Insurance stocks have been highly sought-after by investors as a result of the industry's growth potential in China. Of the country's 1.3 billion people, less than 4 percent have insurance coverage, leaving huge scope for development. China Life's A shares have more than doubled since it listed on January 9.

For the first nine months of 2006, Ping An posted a net profit of 3.677 billion yuan, far exceeding its 2005 earnings of 3.338 billion. Ping An collected 37.3 billion yuan in premiums in the first half of 2006 to command a domestic market share of 16.5 percent, second only to China Life's 111.4 billion yuan and 49.4 percent.

The Shanghai offer, at its maximum size, would account for 15.66 percent of Ping An's expanded capital of 7.345 billion outstanding shares.