BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- China Life Insurance Company Ltd. saw its premium revenue up 4.2 percent year on year in the first six months to surpass 360.4 billion yuan (about 52.3 billion U.S. dollars).

During the period, the company's domestic market share rose to 22 percent, up 2.3 percentage points compared to the end of 2017, keeping its position as the industry leader, according to a financial report the insurer filed with Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Net profit for shareholders of the company surged by 34.2 percent from the same period last year to 16.4 billion yuan.

Premium revenue from life insurance policies came in at 304.3 billion yuan, up 1.2 percent year on year, while health insurance businesses posted robust growth of 28.8 percent.

China's insurance sector saw premium income fall 3.33 percent year on year to 2.2 trillion yuan (about 319.3 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, data showed.