Major insurance company Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., Ltd together with the Shenzhen Development Bank (SDB) announced Thursday that it plans to invest 29.1 billion yuan ($4.27 billion) to buy 1.639 billion privately issued shares in the latter.

Upon approval from the shareholders board, Ping An Insurance will inject all its hold of shares of Ping An Bank (7.825 billion shares) and adequate cash into SDB.

After transaction succeeds, China's largest insurance company will become also the largest shareholder in SDB, said the announcement.

The move comes as an attempt to ease- or practically eliminate- the fierce competition between the two banks: Ping An Bank and SDB.

It on the other hand meets the requirement made by China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) on the integration between the two banks.

The Ping An bank is a joint-stock commercial bank headquartered in Shenzhen, in which Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd holds more than 90 percent of shares, and the remaining stocks are owned by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).