Taikang Life Insurance Co's profits more than doubled last year as premiums grew.

The Beijing-based insurer's after-tax profits hit 414 million yuan (US$53.1 million) in 2006, up 127.2 percent, the insurer said in a statement. This is the fourth consecutive year the company has made profits.

Its premiums last year grew 16.87 percent to 20.9 billion yuan. Individual premiums from new policies gained 3.84 billion yuan, up 60.1 percent from a year ago. The insurer said growth in the bank-insurance and individual products helped to boost the 2006 premiums.

The insurer's total assets hit 86.7 billion yuan at the end of last year, a year-on-year rise of 56 percent. The insurer has 32 branches and a client pool of up to 13 million. The firm was set up in 1996 by 16 state-owned companies including Sinopec affiliates. It is now one of the top five life insurers on the Chinese mainland.