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| Taikang.Online
and Sohu.com jointly offer online insurance |
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| Taikang Online launched its newly-designed
travel insurance packages to the market. |
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| Taikang Online formed partnership
with Beijing TV Station to promote travel protection packages
to groups. |
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| Taikang Online established alliance
with FM365 to offer consumer-oriented insurance product
online. |
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| Taikang Online partnered with travel
portals in promoting Taikang travel protection packages
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Checking insurance market pulse  |
Checking insurance market pulse
SHANGHAI: The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) Shanghai
office launched the country's first insurance industry indicator
last month, giving China's emerging insurance market a much-needed
benchmark.
"The indicator system and insurance index are part of our efforts
to shift CIRC's role to serve the market instead of ruling it in
the wake of China's World Trade Organization membership," Zhou
Yanli, head of CIRC's Shanghai office, said at a recent forum.
The index, which charts the ups and downs of the insurance market,
is now composed of two sub-indices: life insurance and non-life
insurance. Each sub-index consists of four indicators measuring
business volume, market scale, share of the national economy and
profits.
The four indicators track 16 statistics, such as changes in premiums,
assets, claims, profits and investment returns, at all insurers
in Shanghai. Both domestic and foreign-funded insurers are tracked,
as is the per capita spending on insurance policies in the city.
Two more sub-indices - the re-insurance index and insurance agent
index - will also be worked into the whole index when the two markets
mature, said Li Feng, an official with CIRC's Shanghai office.
The Shanghai insurance index for the first quarter this year nearly
doubled from its last period - the last quarter of 1999 - to reach
199.21.
"This is the first time that the insurance industry has an
authoritative index that
comprehensively represents the market's development, prosperity
and competitiveness in a fair and square way," said Li.
Professor Han Tianxiong from East China Normal University, who leads
the research and development of the index system, said the new measure
will lend market players and the government a perfect tool to analyze
market trends and forecast market prospects.
"With the index and all the statistics collected from all the
insurers, it will be more convenient to regulate the market and
more sensitive to potential problems," CIRC's Li added.
He also pointed out that policy holders will have a better understanding
of the insurance market environment as more local dwellers buy insurance
for investment purposes.
"The index will be more influential as some insurance companies
will go public in the future," he said.
Three Shanghai-based insurers - Pacific Insurance, Tian'an Insurance
and Dazhong Insurance - are all preparing to go public. The mandatory
coaching period for all three came to an end before January.
Market players have welcomed the new index, hailing it as a key
tool helpful to their decision making.
Allianz Dazhong Life Insurance Co General Manager Dr Benno von Canstein
said: "It is very useful to benchmark our own performance in
the market and adjust to the market development."
Experts said the emergence of the index indicates Shanghai's position
as the forefront leader of China's insurance industry.
The city is now home to 26 insurance companies and 10 brokers, including
14 foreign insurers. The insurance industry employs nearly 60,000
staff in the country's economic powerhouse, and several more are
expected to join them as more than 40 overseas insurance institutions
have opened representative offices here.
Insurance premiums racked up 6.81 billion yuan (US$820 million)
during the first three months of this year, up 35 per cent from
the same period last year.
As this is the first insurance index in the country, Li said changes
are inevitable. CIRC will work continuously to adjust the system
so that it can better reflect the market environment, he said.
As to when and how the system will be put in use in other cities
or in the whole country, Li said it depends on CIRC's decision.
"Our prime task is to perfect it and obtain recognition and
understanding among both public and market players," he added.
Author: (CHANG TIANLE) China Daily
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