China Life <2628.HK>, the world's top life insurer by market value, reported fourth quarter earnings more than double a year ago, helped by new accounting rules, a rebound in global markets and strong premium growth.

China Life's <601628.SS> net profit rose to 13 billion yuan ($1.91 billion) in the three months through December from 6 billion yuan during the same period last year, according to Reuters' calculations using company figures from a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Annual profit rose to 32.88 billion yuan from 19 billion yuan a year earlier.

Late last year, China unveiled changes to accounting standards for insurers that alter how they account for income, acquisition costs and actuarial reserves. The move was said to bring the standards closer to international practices.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of China Life, which has a market value of $124 billion, are largely flat so far this year, slightly outperforming the benchmark Hang Seng index's <.HSI> 2 percent fall.

(Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Elaine Hardcastle)

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