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The newspaper reported that Central Huijin
Investment Ltd, the investment arm of the Chinese government and
the largest shareholder in the insurer, plans to sell some of
its stake to Alibaba. It did not give any details on the size of
the deal.
Central Huijin currently owns 31.34 percent of the insurer,
according to the paper.
New China Life Insurance asked for a trading suspension on Jan.
19, saying it was in the midst of negotiations that would affect
its shareholding structure.
An Alibaba spokeswoman declined to comment on what she called
market speculation. A spokesman for New China Life Insurance
said: "currently, there is nothing we can tell you."
Alibaba is already invested in China's insurance market. The
founders of Alibaba and Tencent Holdings Ltd were among a
consortium of investors who purchased stakes in Ping An
Insurance Group Co of China Ltd in a HK$36.5 billion ($4.7
billion) deal in December.
New China Life Insurance has a market capitalisation of $24
billion and provides life insurance services and products.
(Reporting by Engen Tham in Shanghai and Paul Carsten in
Beijing; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
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