China Life Insurance Co., Ltd., the country's largest life insurer, on Friday declared net profits up 218.9 percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2013.

The company's profits stood at 23.7 billion yuan (3.7 billion U.S. dollars), owing to climbing investment returns and reduced losses from asset devaluation, according to a statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Premiums topped 274 billion yuan in the first nine months, up 5 percent year on year, the statement showed.

The company's total investment assets hit 1.82 trillion yuan by the end of last month, a net investment return ratio of 4.5 percent.