ALIAKSANDR Lisouski from Belarus has won the men's scratch crown at the world track cycling championships in Manchester, England.

Vietnamese Postal Insurance Firm Finds Finance Partner

The Post and Telecommunication and Insurance joint Stock Co (PTI) and the Victoria Capital Management Co (VCMC) signed a memorandum of understanding on March 19 agreeing to comprehensive business cooperation in Vietnam.

They will work together to set up investment funds, manage investment lists, cooperate in investment and provide insurance services for investment projects.

PTI is one of five leading non-life insurance companies in Vietnam.

Its main shareholders are the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation (VNPT), the Vietnam National Reinsurance Corporation (VINARE), the Bao Minh Joint Stock Corporation, the Ha Noi Construction Corporation Vinaconex, and the International Commercial Joint Stock bank.

VCMC has a licence to manage investment funds and investment lists for domestic and foreign clients.

China Life profit up 42%

HONG KONG (Reuters)�China Life Insurance Co., China 's largest life underwriter, posted a 42% gain in second-half profit on strong investment returns, topping analysts' expectations, but said it faces a more turbulent market environment in 2008.

Investment returns at China Life, which leads rival Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., benefited from a near doubling in China's benchmark domestic share index last year, but stock markets have tumbled since peaking in October.

"In 2008, the company will face further challenges in view of the keen competition in the insurance industry and the uncertainty of the capital markets," Chairman Yang Chao said in a statement.

Shanghai's stock market, on which China Life depends for a sizeable portion of its investment income, has dived more than 30% since the start of the year on expectations of slowing income growth and rising interest rates to combat inflation.