New China Life targets $4 billion IPO

Apparently not all issuers are daunted by the market crash. New China Life Insurance, the country’s third-biggest life insurer in terms of premiums, filed an application yesterday to the Hong Kong exchange to raise up to $4 billion in a dual initial public offering in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

If approved, the deal will test investor confidence in a market that has recorded historically poor performance and an industry that is still very immature in China.

New China Life’s deal is the first sizable IPO in region after Standard Poor’s downgraded the US’s credit rating. The company plans to list in the two cities in October,...