China's insurers felt the side effect of the country's booming auto market -- with operating losses totaling 2.9 billion yuan (US$427 million) in 2009.

Insurance Association of China said Friday that its 30 member insurance companies that are engaged in traffic compulsory insurance business underwrote 85.02 million units of vehicles in 2009, up 23 percent from a year ago.

Total compulsory insurance premiums rose 21 percent year on year to 66.8 billion yuan (US$9.84 billion), according to the association.

Meanwhile, the industry handled 11.78 million claims regarding traffic liability mandatory insurance products last year with reimbursements totaling 47.2 billion yuan (US$6.95 billion), it said.

Offsetting 2.4 billion yuan (US$353 million) investment revenue with 18.6-billion-yuan (US$2.74 billion) operating costs, the industry posted a loss of 2.9 billion yuan (US$427 million) last year, according to the association.

Retail sales of China-made autos rose 17.18 percent year on year to 1.056 million units in July this year, raising auto sales in the first seven months to more than 8.24 million units, up 28.58 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the China Automotive Technology and Research Center released earlier this month.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2010)