Chinese interest in acquiring stakes in Australian insurers has more than tripled since the end of last year, signalling a potential rise in mergers and acquisition activity, according to Clyde & Co. 
Shanghai-based Clyde & Co partner Michael Cripps, who specialises in M&A activity between China and Australia, said more Chinese financial services groups had expressed interest in buying stakes in local insurers.
Their aim is not to take over the company but to earn seats on established insurers' boards to glean information on how local insurers operate and expand their businesses.
"They're looking for minority stakes in good, established players in Australia," he said.
"Interest has tripled since [last year]," Mr Cripps said. "Cash flow and exposure of Australian insurers, that's what's attracting these Chinese insurers."
Clyde & Co found the rate of Chinese entities taking stakes in global insurance companies had risen in the past 12 months, with eight deals sealed between   July 2014 and   June 2015, up from five the prior year.
Most Chinese deals in the past year occurred outside the country. One example is Anbang Insurance Group Co, which bought into the Belgian market last year.
China's Jangho Group is one of the latest Chinese companies to beef up its presence in Australia. The Chinese company raised its stake in Primary Health Care, a listed pathology diagnostic group, to 14 per cent in   March.
Australia's general insurance industry is dominated by listed players IAG, Suncorp Group and QBE Insurance Group, which control large chunks of the personal and commercial insurance markets.
Dean Carrigan, a partner at Clyde & Co, said the heightening Chinese interest in Australia comes as local insurers pull back from expanding into the world's second-largest economy.
"Several years ago, with inbound investment into China, they [Chinese companies] were absolutely desperate to glean as much information from the overseas investor as possible.
"We're seeing the exact same thing playing out - but in reverse [today]," he said. "The driver for that is to continue to bolster the learning and experience they can get by getting a seat at the table."
Mr Cripps said Chinese companies had watched deals such as Warren Buffett's purchase of 3.7 per cent of IAG with interest. They were also looking at transactions such as the $2.4 billion deal, in which Japanese life insurance behemoth Nippon Life bought 80 per cent of National Australia Bank-owned MLC.
"It's about the governance, the skills of [local players] that are enticing to Chinese companies who want to learn from established markets," he said.