Chinese regulators have approved several insurers to conduct Bond Connect Southbound investments. Taikang Asset, on behalf of Taikang Life, completed the first southbound bond trade. China Life, Ping An Life, China Pacific Life, Taiping Life and PICC Life were among the initial batch cleared to invest via Southbound; some have already executed inaugural transactions. This is the first time since the Southbound channel launched in September 2021 that it has been opened to non-bank institutions.