BEIJING - China Life Insurance Co, the country's biggest life insurer, said Wednesday its net profit for the first quarter of this year plunged 29.4 percent year-on-year to 5.63 billion yuan ($894 million).

The company attributed the drop to declining investment revenue and increased asset write-downs stemming from weak stock markets despite a slight rebound.

During the first three months it raked in an accumulated premium income of 112.74 billion yuan, according to China Life's quarterly report filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Investment return ratio for the first quarter stood at 2.71 percent, said the report.