The Chinese insurance industry total asset hit $436.4 Billion last month under favorable business conditions, rising demand for insurance packages and government support.

In the recently released statistics by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), the Chinese insurance companies collectively owned an asset of RMB 3.03 Trillion (US$436.4 Billion) in April 2008, as reported by ChinaKnowledge.

The commission also disclosed that Chinese insurers made an investment of over RMB 91.4 Billion (US$13.16 Billion) during April 2008. The insurance industry of China has been consistently growing at a rate of 16% since 2002. Moreover, the premium income touched a record level of RMB 564.1 Billion (US$81.25 Billion) in 2006. In 2007, the Chinese insurance industry had 107 players in which 62 were domestic players and 45 were foreign funded companies.

The growth in total asset of Chinese insurers during April 2008 was mainly pushed up by the strong demand for insurance packages. Apart from demand, fast economic growth, vigorously growing financial market and changing policy system boosted the insurance industry. With increasing awareness about insurance packages alongwith population growth proved vital for insurance industry in China.

Government’s participation and support to the insurance industry is leading the industry in forefront. The government has opened the industry for foreign players seeing that it is a strategic industry. But the government is carefully regulating the participation of foreign players to protect the interest of domestic players as the industry is still at a nascent stage. Additionally, the government ensures the growth of insurance industry matches with domestic demand for services.

Furthermore, the competition in the Chinese insurance market has intensified with rising number of players offering attractive insurance packages. Under such scenario, it becomes inevitable for insurance players to firmly hold their places in the market for exploiting the vast opportunities lying before them.

According to a research analyst at RNCOS, “There is a great contribution of insurance industry in China’s economy. The acceptability of insurance plans has tremendously improved as people increasingly realizing the significance of insurance in their lives. Moreover, business conditions are favorable for the growth of insurance industry in future. This will also help in attracting foreign players to expand their portfolios in the Chinese insurance industry.”

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