BEIJING (Bloomberg) - China's insurers booked 561.8 billion yuan ($82.5 billion) in premiums in the first half of this year, up 51 percent from a year earlier, the nation's insurance regulator said.

Of the total, life insurance premiums jumped 83.7 percent to 431.9 billion yuan from the same period last year, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in a statement posted on its website yesterday. Property and casualty insurance premiums grew 20 percent to 130 billion yuan from a year earlier.

"China's life insurance premiums jumped because banks, through bancassurance, have taken a more proactive approach in convincing customers to buy life insurance," said Ben Lin, Nomura International's Hong Kong-based head of regional insurance research.