HONG KONG, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Prudential Plc posted a 3.6% rise in first-half operating profit on Wednesday, as the Asia-focused insurer benefited from a rebound in Chinese investors buying insurance products in Hong Kong, its key revenue centre.

As China ended its stringent zero COVID-19 policy late last year and gradually removed border restrictions, mainland visitors have started to buy insurance again in the Asian financial hub.

Adjusted operating profit of the London and Hong Kong dual-listed company was $1.46 billion for January-June, up from $1.41 billion in the same period a year earlier, it said in a statement.

Prudential's annualised premium equivalent (APE) sales, a closely watched gauge of insurance sales, rose 37% to $3 billion on a stronger pickup in sales from Chinese mainland visitors to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-based insurers including Prudential and AIA Group benefited from Chinese investors rushing to buy Hong Kong insurance, as well as making other U.S. dollar investments, as investor confidence in local markets languished.

AIA last week reported a 37% rise in the value of new business in the first half of this year, beating estimates, as sales rebounded in its key markets of mainland China and Hong Kong after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Hong Kong insurance has long been a channel for Chinese buying assets abroad, with the policies providing more protection than what is available on the mainland, and attendant savings and investment products mostly denominated in dollars.

The outlook for Asia-focussed insurers in the near future, however, is set to be clouded by slowing growth momentum in the Chinese economy, which has resulted in a surge in the unemployment rate and is weighing on disposable income. (Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee in Hong Kong; Editing by Christopher Cushing)