SHANGHAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd , the country's largest insurer by market value, posted a 29% fall in annual net profit as premium income shrank due to a weak economy and lower investment returns from the property sector.

Net profit fell to 101.6 billion yuan ($16.01 billionin 2021 from 143.1 billion, according to Reuters calculation based on the company's exchange filing on Thursday.

($1 = 6.3454 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Engen Tham, Zhang Yan)