Want China Times, Xinhua 2014-08-15
The Chinese government on Wednesday unveiled measures to develop the insurance industry, vowing to raise premium incomes to 5% of GDP by 2020.
Arranging social insurance in Taiyuan, Shanxi province. (File photo/CNS) |
The Chinese government on Wednesday unveiled measures to develop the insurance industry, vowing to raise premium incomes to 5% of GDP by 2020.
The
package, announced on the State Council website, let the insurance industry
play a bigger role in the fledgling social security network.
The second
of its kind since 2006, the package could see citizens paying an average of
3,500 yuan (US$565) per capita in premiums by 2020.
Commercial
insurance will become the primary undertaker of individual and household
programs and an important supplier of corporate pensions and health insurance.
The
insurance will be given a bigger role in the prevention and relief of disasters
and accidents through the introduction of catastrophe insurance products.
Insurance
funds will be encouraged to invest in bonds and equities to support major
infrastructure projects, urban renewal and urbanization.
The
government will encourage the house-for-pension insurance experiment and launch
a pilot program to introduce compulsory insurance for environmental pollution,
food safety, medical accidents and campus safety.
Zhao
Xianghuai, an analyst with Guotai Junan Securities, believes the package will
open more space for China's insurance industry, which had a total assets worth
9.4 trillion yuan (US$1.53 trillion) by the end of June this year.
"The
package has elevated the position of the insurance industry and created new
room for development," Zhao said.
Boosted by
the announcement, Chinese insurers rose across the board on the stock markets,
with New China Life Insurance Co leading the gains, up 3.57% to 25.27 yuan
(US$4.11).
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