(Yicai Global) Sept. 21 -- As of end-June 2017, there are a total of eight insurance mechanisms investing in 29 aged care community projects, with a planned investment amount of CNY 67.82 billion (USD10.2 billion), China's insurance sector regulator, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), said.

The regulator supports the insurance sector capital to participate in the investment and operation of the such aged care community projects and help contribute to the innovation and exploration of this field, said Jia Biao, vice director of funding unit at CIRC.

As of the end of the first half year, there are eight such projects in total run by insurance companies including China Life Insurance Co. [SHA:601628; HK:2628], Taikang Life Insurance and Taiping Life Insurance (Hong Kong) Co. It involves 29 community projects, which span 18 municipal cities, regions and provinces, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hebei, Jiangsu and Hainan. The floor space of the said projects is more than 12 million square meters, with a capacity of 40,000 beds. At present, some projects have already been put into operation, Jia said.

Chinese insurance industry is now making use of its insurance products and capital advantages to promote healthy development of the pension industry. Encouraging the insurance industry to take part in such projects helps unlock the potential of the sector, such as large-scale capital and sustainability in investments, sharing medical mechanisms and deepening the public hospital reform, Jia added.