China’s plummeting stock market caused a sharp drop in first-half investment income at Ping An Insurance, the country’s number two insurer.

The company, which is 17 per cent owned by HSBC, said Friday its investment income dropped 64 per cent to Rmb9.28bn ($1.35bn) in the first half, contributing to a 2 per cent fall in net profit attributable to shareholders from a year earlier.