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.
While China's growth target for 2023 of around 5% was achieved, a weaker macroeconomic growth outlook, the performance of the real estate sector and relatively weak consumption have led to an uncertain outlook for 2024, according to the Insurance Working Group (IWG) of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
The lack of clarity and transparency in supervisory rating indicators and their respective scales risks penalising small and foreign insurers, thereby hindering China's efforts to create both a diversified market and a level playing field, says the Insurance Working Group (IWG) of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.
Unclear regulations on regional HQs of foreign insurance companies limit their ability to provide services and perform equity management functions for entities within their group, thereby disrupting daily operations, says the Insurance Working Group (IWG) of the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.
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