Chinese insurance firms report record growth following covid-19 outbreak
China's insurance companies reported strong month-on-month growth in premium income last month as combined premium income rose to by 92.4% MoM.
The five registered insurers in mainland China, including China Life Insurance and the People's Insurance Company Group of China (PICC), benefitted from China's gradual return to work following the worst of the covid-19 outbreak in February. Some of the growth was also attributed to the companies' move to offering online services.
China Life Insurance saw its premium income surge 131.3% from February to March. And in results for 1Q2020, China Life Insurance saw its business revenue rise 8.2% YoY to 337.8 billion yuan ($47.7bn) on the 1Q2019.
According to figures released by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company posted a net profit of 17bn yuan, a fall of 34% on 2019.
The PICC announced that its March premium income rose 115.48%.
Zhu Junsheng, a researcher with the Development Research Center under the State Council, said the strong growth in the sector was due to the "easing situation of the epidemic [in China] and the insurers' push for online services."
In 1Q2020, combined premium income of the five top Chinses insurance totalled $134bn, marking a YoY rise of 4.07%.
New rules, please
Earlier this month, China's Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) unveiled a new set of rules to regulate the booming insurance sector and encourage insurance firms to develop more long-term medical insurance policies and products.
The CBIRC said that insurers will be allowed to develop and sell long-term insurance schemes that can vary charges under some well-defined conditions. The new rules seek to specify how insurance companies can invest asset management funds.
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