(Rewrites with focus on price requirement waiver, adds details)

By George Chen and Kennix Chim

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, July 24 (Reuters) - China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co Ltd (601601.SS: Quote, Profile, Research) has asked regulators to waive a minimum price requirement for its planned Hong Kong listing that forced it to delay the offering, two sources familiar with the situation said on Thursday.

China Pacific, the country's third-largest life insurer, had pledged not to price the shares offered in Hong Kong below the Shanghai IPO price of 30 yuan each, or about HK$34.3 at current exchange rates.

The company's Shanghai-listed shares, however, have since fallen to 20.71 yuan, as of Thursday's close.

China Pacific had said it planned to list in Hong Kong no later than Sept. 14 after China's securities regulators approved its Hong Kong listing plan, on the condition it agree to the minimum price requirement.

"It will be difficult to launch its Hong Kong offering before the deadline, because of the obstacle posed by the offer price," said one of the two sources.

Senior executives at China Pacific, partly owned by U.S. private equity firm Carlyle Group [CYL.UL], have acknowledged they cannot meet the Sept. 14 deadline and have been in talks over the past few months with Chinese regulators to seek a waiver of the price restrictions, said the sources.

They also need to gain shareholders' approval for a revised Hong Kong listing plan, they said.