The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China., the nation's largest property insurer, has cut the size of a planned first-time domestic share sale and indicated it will proceed when the market improves, reports Bloomberg News.

The company will offer a maximum of 1.8bn A-shares, less than the 2.3bn earlier approved by the Chinese securities regulator, the company told Hong Kong’s stock exchange.

PICC will proceed at the “optimal time in light of market conditions”, according to the statement..

Stock markets in China have had a horrible year with more than $3trn wiped out since January. The Shanghai Composite Index is down about 30% since this year’s high to its lowest since 2014.

Selling 1.8bn shares would raise about $863m, based on PICC's last closing price in Hong Kong. That would make it the third biggest first-time offering in China this year, behind Foxconn Industrial Internet Co and Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co.

The China Securities Regulatory Commission last month approved the firm to sell A shares in Shanghai. The company's shares are already listed in Hong Kong.