BEIJING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- China's online personal insurance market posted steady expansion last year, with premiums soaring 55.7 percent year on year, according to a report from the Insurance Association of China.

Online personal insurance premiums totaled 185.77 billion yuan (about 26.54 billion U.S. dollars) last year, compared with 119.32 billion yuan in 2018.

Guohua Life Insurance Co. was the biggest insurer in terms of online personal insurance premiums, collecting a total of 37.98 billion yuan. China Post Insurance Co. and ICBC-AXA Assurance Co. ranked the second and the third.

With easy access to the internet, more and more Chinese consumers like to use online channels to research and buy life and pensions products. The development of internet channels has also allowed companies to reach new customers and markets without the need for a physical presence and with low variable costs.

However, the industry will likely see fierce competition and price wars will remain a major means of competition because of homogeneous products, according to the report.