BEIJING -- China Life Insurance Co Ltd, the country's largest life insurance provider, on Tuesday reported that its net profits for the first half of this year totalled 9.64 billion yuan ($1.53 billion), down 25.7 percent year-on-year.

The sharp decline in profits is mainly the result of the weak performance of the capital market, which caused decreased returns from investments and losses from the devaluation of assets, the company said in a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The company's earnings per share for the first six months were 0.34 yuan, down 25.7 percent from a year ago.

The company's total assets stood at 1.77 trillion yuan by the end of June this year, up 11.7 percent from six months ago. But business revenue dropped 2.9 percent year-on-year to 225.3 billion yuan in the six-month period, said the company.

The company said its total insurance premiums during the period declined 5.2 percent from a year ago to 184.74 billion yuan, affected by the macroeconomic condition, regulation policies and challenges posed by financial products.

The company's solvency ratio stood at 230.56 percent as of June 30 this year, it said.