Policy changes to China’s non-motor insurance business spell a positive impact for reinsurers, Swiss Re’s Mr Beat Strebel told Asia Insurance Review. As the shifts mean a focus on risk-based pricing and disciplined underwriting, Chinese cedents will place greater emphasis on reinsurers’ expertise in underwriting and claims, risk modelling and actionable risk intelligence.
In China, national policy overall has “pivoted to high quality development, with measures to mitigate systemic risk and lift profit quality” over the past year, Swiss Re CEO Reinsurance China Beat Strebel told Asia Insurance Review in an interview.
“In life and health, we note lower life product interest rates, the return of participating CI and a new life mortality table to improve pricing accuracy,” said Mr Strebel.
“In the P&C sector, the market has seen the rollout of a ‘unified commission fees in reporting and underwriting’ policy for non-motor insurance, where after short-term market fluctuations, profitability is expected to improve in the long run.”
Other developments
Additionally, Mr Strebel pointed out that the market “is seeing a shift in focus from volume to underwriting excellence, claims management and product innovation”.
“The application of technologies such as AI will help enhance underwriting and claims efficiency, strengthen risk management capabilities and reduce the overall combined ratio,” he said.
“The government is also scaling the Nat CAT agenda via a national database (containing 1.7bn+ risk data points) and government sponsored programmes in 10+ cities/provinces.”
Moreover, he noted the new risk pools forming across the green transition, such as Chinese enterprises expanding abroad and new energy vehicles (NEVs).
Called NEVs in China, these vehicles come with “new-type power systems, completely or mainly driven by new energy sources”, according to a report by the International Council on Clean Transportation.
“These include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs, extended-range electric vehicles included), battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCVs),” said the report.
Touching further on NEVs, Mr Strebel also highlighted that the segment made up 48% of new car sales and brought in CNY140.9bn ($20b) in premiums in 2024. He also noted that it is estimated to account for approximately 37% of motor premiums by 2030.
Regulatory shift
In September 2025, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) released the Notice on Strengthening Supervision of Non-Motor Insurance Business, that took effect in November 2025.
This notice, according to Fitch Ratings, required insurers to “prioritise profitability and business quality, and strengthen commission management for non-motor lines”. It also shifted the competitive focus of the non-motor insurance market from commission-driven acquisition to risk-based pricing and disciplined underwriting, the ratings agency highlighted in a statement.
On a reinsurer’s end, the impact was “positive”, according to Mr Strebel.
“The policy changes recalibrated pricing and product design: lower life rates, new mortality table and participating CI support pricing accuracy in L&H; while unified non motor commission fees help bolster expense governance and profit quality in P&C,” he said.
He is also observing cedents “placing greater emphasis on underwriting and claims expertise, as well as on capital efficiency under regulatory guidance, which help enhance market resilience”.
Opportunities
Touching on how the regulatory shift led to opportunities for complex and/or value-added reinsurance solutions, Mr Strebel said the industry is “set to play a bigger role in China’s high-quality development”.
“The value that reinsurers bring goes beyond risk transfer capacity. In this context, Chinese cedants have placed greater emphasis on reinsurers’ expertise in underwriting and claims, risk modelling and actionable risk intelligence,” he said.
“These value-added insights and solutions can help them improve underwriting excellence and risk management and is conducive for the transformation from business volume to quality. This becomes increasingly relevant as risks become more frequent, complex and borderless, and as new risk pools emerge.”
Reinsurers can also leverage China’s green transition, he said, adding that reinsurers may co ordinate smart reinsurance capacity across the project life cycle (engineering, marine, property), apply risk and digital engineering and blend local relationships with global expertise.
Using Swiss Re’s further research into NEVs, while sharing risk know how, supporting product/claims design, as an example, he said, “Our engagement was with the China Automotive Maintenance and Repair Association on developing the October?2023 power battery testing/repair standard and various overseas exposure where clearer guidelines/regulatory understanding was needed.”
Other opportunities he listed were Chinese enterprises looking to expand abroad, as well as Shanghai’s advances as an international reinsurance centre with more transparency, standardisation, digitalisation and regulatory improvements.
“Demand for cross border programmes and complex structuring is expected to increase,” he said.
Supporting underwriting processes
When asked how reinsurers like Swiss Re could support clients in the automation and enhancement of underwriting processes for L&H and P&C, Mr Strebel highlighted Swiss Re’s role in enhancing data insights and risk profiling with advanced modelling.
He also highlighted their deployment of technology to raise operational efficiency, anchored in prudent, data driven underwriting and capital deployment.
“In L&H, we support pricing accuracy, product innovation for low rates/healthcare/ageing and capital efficiency,” he said.
“In P&C, we strengthen Nat CAT and rural revitalisation risk management and use AI/tech to improve underwriting/claims efficiency and lower combined ratios, including digital engineering for frontier risks, such as renewables and NEVs.”
China’s cyber reinsurance market
In response to a question on the current state of the Chinese cyber reinsurance market, Mr Strebel said, “Generative AI offers modelling opportunities but also introduces new vulnerabilities including cyber, legal and reputational risks.”
He also explained that the field “has been identified as a strategic skill area, reinforcing the need for capability building, accumulation awareness and claims/incident readiness”.
But most notable about the segment is the yawning protection gap small- to medium-sized enterprises face, he said, noting that it is approximately 90% and calling it “both a challenge and an opportunity for the (re)insurance industry”.
He said, “The market direction is towards prudent, data driven underwriting with improving risk transparency/standardisation, including Shanghai’s market building, to achieve sustainable growth rather than volume led expansion.”
The future
When speaking about what he expected in the Chinese reinsurance market over the coming year, Mr Strebel highlighted the P&C sector, pointing to “a steady but slower premium growth with structural profitability improvement (underwriting profit on a structural uptrend with short term volatility)”.
“However, motor remains a key pillar while non motor lines may grow faster. Still, there is ‘no single cycle’ across lines,” he said.
Moving on to China’s L&H sector, he said the segment is “under cyclical and structural pressure over the near term”.
Despite this, he also spoke of a promising outlook in the long run, saying that it would be “underpinned by the expanding middle class, rising risk awareness and the increasing role of L&H insurance in social protection systems – particularly in addressing population ageing”.
Nat CAT
Elevated Nat CAT losses should support reinsurance demand as the NFRA aims to raise reinsurance depth (reinsurance premium/primary premium ~4% vs 12.5% globally), while Shanghai advances as an international reinsurance hub, Mr Strebel noted.
“Our focus continues to be on addressing our clients’ needs, and we look to provide early guidance,” he said.
“We aim to enable product innovation through leveraging data and advanced risk modelling; expand PPP style Nat Cat solutions (using the national database and provincial programmes); provide solutions and technology to increase efficiency and quality of the underwriting process and claims handling; and help optimise capital efficiency under the regulatory agenda.”
The green transition
“In strategic growth areas such as green transition, NEV and battery energy storage systems, we are working closely with our clients and partners to deepen knowledge of evolving technologies and strengthen data collaboration with manufacturers and operators,” Mr Strebel said.
“Joint learning and prudent underwriting are essential to balance innovation with effective risk control; these are critical for sustainable risk management and long-term growth.” A