BEIJING -- China's insurance sector is likely to collect a record 700 billion yuan (USD93.3 billion) in premiums this year, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The figure compares with 304 billion yuan in 2002 and 564 billion yuan last year when China jumped from 16th to ninth in the world ranking of insurance premium revenues, Wu Dingfu, head of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, told a forum on pension funds in Beijing.

Currently, Chinese insurers have 2.8 trillion yuan in total assets, up from two trillion yuan at the end of last year, Wu said.

Chinese insurance revenue was expected to surpass one trillion yuan by 2010, with insurance assets reaching five trillion yuan, according to the country's 11th five-year (2006-2010) plan.

China Life, the country's largest life insurer, grossed 158.6 billion yuan in premiums in the first nine months, while China Ping An took in 76 billion yuan.