china

Guy Carpenter have published a report looking at the devastating floods which have affected China this year. It was one of the worst flooding seasons since 1998 for China yet despite huge economic losses, insured losses will be low due to the extremely low penetration of insurance in China.

China Life has received the regulatory approval to expand its microinsurance pilot to five more Chinese provinces. They say they want to achieve US$38m in microinsurance premium income in 2010. The microinsurance pilot can now be operated in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hunan, Xinjiang and Tibet, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

China, with its population of over 1.3b and its rapidly modernising infrastructure and economy, is still not particularly well covered by insurance for natural disasters. Many international insurance and reinsurance companies are active in China but much of the population remains at risk of disaster which they are not covered for.

The China Daily newspaper is today reporting that the country may have it’s first weather insurance policies before the end of the year. The policies will be designed to help farmers cope with economic losses and hardship resulting from natural disasters.