China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said on Saturday the country's insurance agents have gained 255 million yuan (US$36.76 million) of profit in 2008, up 30.81 year-on-year.

According to a market report issued by CIRC, China has 2,445 insurance agents, 136,634 proxies and 2.6 million sales people by the end of 2008.

About 82 percent, or 804.35 billion yuan, of the insurance premiums received by Chinese insurers were acquired with the help from these intermediaries, the report said.

By 2008, the registered capital of insurance agents reached 6.8 billion yuan, and their aggregate assets hit 9.5 billion yuan, the report said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2009)