(Yicai Global) June 11 -- China Pacific Insurance, the first Chinese insurer that is seeking to float equity in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and London, has lowered its share issuance ceiling in the upcoming European listing to focus on quality instead of quantity.

China Pacific Insurance will issue a maximum of 113 million global depositary receipts, which is 13 million less than the earlier plan, and 90 percent of the sum that the China Securities Regulatory Commission approved, the Shanghai-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

The GDR sum total equals to 566 million mainland-listed shares and accounts for 9 percent of outstanding share capital before the addition, the statement added.

China Pacific Insurance could become the second Chinese firm to issue GDRs via the stock connect scheme between China and the UK after Huatai Securities debuted in the program last June.

Fewer shares could mean more stable pricing. Lowering the upper limit will protect current shareholders' interests in the background of stock price deviation from fundamentals, Securities Times reported, citing the insurer. It will also prove the issuer's determination to attract long-term shareholders, it added.

China Pacific Insurance is looking for high-quality investors worldwide to enrich its composition instead of mainly aiming to raise funds, according to the report.

The company will spend over 70 percent of the proceeds to advance its main business on the home turf and abroad while the remainder will be used to build a platform to invest in overseas innovation including healthcare, pension, and technology.

The issuance still requires approval from regulators in the UK but the CSRC already gave the green light to the plan last month.

China Pacific Insurance has found itself a cornerstone investor from an Asian unit of Swiss Reinsurance that will take up to 1.5 percent of the insurers' GDRs, with a lock-up period of three years, it said earlier.

Editor: Emmi Laine