Source: CCTV.com

01-26-2008 13:34

More Chinese farmers can expect coverage under the nation's insurance umbrella. The government is starting to promote micro-insurance products in rural areas. And more low-income urbanites will also be protected.

The government is starting to promote micro-insurance products in rural areas. And more low-income urbanites will also be protected.(Photo:163.com)

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission says micro-insurance products will mainly target farmers and low-income urbanites, as they require relatively lower annual premiums.

Wu Dingfu, Chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission said "We have much to do in the rural areas and agricultural industries, for example, the new cooperative medical insurance. There are so many migrant workers now, they also need accidental insurance cover."

The commission plans to set up some pilots in approved areas this year. The pilots will cooperate with banks and post office systems to run the insurance schemes. The insurance watchdog also says it will establish an evaluation mechanism for the solvency of insurers. Any unreasonable price competition and underhanded activities will be severely punished.

Wu Dingfu said "Two major tasks lie ahead, first, improving services, second, strengthening costs checking. The aim is to satisfy customers as well as benefit insurers."

China witnessed a surge in the sales of insurance products to around 700 billion yuan for 2007, that's a 25 percent jump from a year earlier. The watchdog also reported profits of 67 billion yuan. The Chinese government is setting aside 1.9 trillion yuan for social security funds and pensions. Meanwhile, figures show that the country now has almost twice the number of registered insurers from five years ago, with a third of that number coming from overseas.

 

Editor:Xiong Qu