Wei: Who's that arguing couple over there? Man: Husband and wife. The wife always yells at her husband for balling up his socks and leaving papers in his pockets. Wei: What about that guy with the strange look in his eyes? Man: He's our local drug addict. I think he gets off on sniffing the bleach and watching women's underwear in the driers. Wei: That guy over there's talking to himself. Man: Oh, he's crazier than a loony tune. He collects the lint from all the driers.
China's largest life and non-life insurance companies witnessed steady premium increases in the first six months of the year despite the negative impact of SARS. Both companies also said their restructurings and preparations for public listings were proceeding smoothly, but did not elaborate. Premiums at the People's Insurance Company of China (PICC), the country's largest non-life insurer, rose by 2.8 per cent in the first half of 2003 on a year-on-year basis to 33.4 billion RMB.
