The State Council, which is China's cabinet, has issued the notice, "Several Opinions on Strengthening Supervision, Preventing Risks and Promoting High-quality Development of the Insurance Industry". The "Opinions" set out measures to be taken for the reform and development of China's insurance industry in the next five to 10 years.
While the Chinese insurance industry faces significant challenges, Fitch Ratings believes efforts from regulators and insurers will make the industry more resilient over the longer term.
With assumed interest rates on insurance products falling, several listed life insurance companies have announced a shift in their product strategies. They will focus on participating insurance policies to attract customers deterred by lower interest rates.
As many life insurers shift their product structure towards participating insurance products amid the declining interest-rate environment, questions are raised about the sustainability of smaller insurance companies.
The regulatory authorities' moves to reduce the assumed interest rates in insurance products, to curb interest-rate spread risk, have resulted in higher premium rates for long-term insurance plans, including critical illness (CI) products.
The risk-adjusted capitalisation of Ping An Health Insurance Company of China (Ping An Health), as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR), is expected to remain at the strongest level over the three years covered by the company's business plan, AM Best says.
A stocktake of the Chinese insurance industry shows that there were over 200 (re)insurance companies operating in the country as of 30 June 2024
An analysis of seven of China's listed life insurance companies -- several of which are among the biggest in the country -- have achieved double-digit growth in new business value (NBV) in the first half of this year.
Competition is intensifying among insurance companies involved in group credit life insurance in Japan, says the Life Planning Department of The Toa Reinsurance Company (Toa Re).
The Council of Australian Life Insurers (CALI) has said that it welcomes a Federal Government ban on the use of genetic test results in insurance underwriting.