(Yicai Global) June 19 -- Ping An Insurance has bought CNY282 million (USD40.7 million) of its own shares to mark the first move in the insurer's CNY100 billion (USD14.5 billion) buyback plan unveiled last year.

The 3.5 million shares equate to a less than 0.02 percent stake in the Shenzhen-based firm, it said in a statement yesterday. Ping An bought the stock via the Shanghai Stock Exchange's call auction mechanism, paying between CNY79.85 (USD11.58) and CNY80.93 apiece.

Its share price [SHA:601318] finished 1.3 percent higher at CNY80.97 yesterday and had jumped 3.66 percent to CNY83.95 as of 11.26 a.m. today. Its Hong Kong floated stock [HKG:2318] has experienced a similar gain.

Ping An unveiled the plan to buy back up to 10 percent of its share capital in October, saying it will procure both Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed shares to ensure its stock price remains stable and to capture investors' long-term interests.

The firm announced in March that it would spend between CNY5 billion and CNY10 billion on the first series of purchases and use the stock exclusively for employee incentives. It said in its latest statement that more share acquisitions are on the way and it will disclose the transactions in a timely manner.

More than a thousand other companies listed on the Chinese mainland have made similar buyback plans, per Yicai Global data, as they look to spur investor confidence and reinvigorate their share price following the domestic market's poor performance last year.

Editors: Dou Shicong, James Boynton