With forecast growth of 7.7% per annum over the next 10 years, China's life insurance market will be behind India's which is predicted to grow at 13.6% per annum, according to Allianz Research in its "Global Insurance Report 2024".
China's insurance industry reported insurance premium income of CNY2.54tn ($350bn) in the first four months of 2024, according to data from the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA).
Hong Kong-based reinsurer, FuSure Reinsurance Company, whose ultimate parent is Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, targets double-digit gross premium written growth, but is expected to maintain a low single-digit return on equity over the period 2024-2027, notes AM Best.
Nasdaq-listed Huize Holding, which operates an online insurance products and services platform in China, says that it is very focused on landing on its next market outside mainland China in the next two quarters of this year.
Listed life insurer New China Insurance (NCI) has announced that its board has approved a resolution to pay an interim dividend if the company produces distributable profits for the first half of this year.
2024 marks the fifth year of the establishment of the Dajia Insurance Group in June 2019 by the Chinese authorities to take over the operations of the now-defunct Anbang Insurance Group.
The demand in China for long-term or short-term health insurance products was trending in the first quarter of this year in line with the broader market, according to Mr Ronald Tam, co-CFO of Huize Holding, a Nasdaq-listed company which operates an online insurance products and services platform.
Nine pension insurance companies in China posted a combined net loss of CNY414m ($57m) for the first quarter of this year, according to data from the companies' quarterly solvency reports. Among the nine, five were profitable during the period while four reported net losses.
The number of insurance agents has fallen to 2.81m as of the end of 2023, a plunge of 69% from the end of 2019. While the decline is tapering off, there are no signs of when it will stop.
Factors such as growing amounts of data, changing customer expectations, competition from newer, non-traditional players in the insurance industry and risk management and mitigation are some drivers behind increased digitalisation and automation in insurers, according to SS&C Blue Prism - ASEAN and Greater China region vice president of sales James Lucas.