China's insurance mart

China's insurance mart

SHANGHAI (AFP): China is to open its insurance market wider to foreign insurers while venturing overseas to compete in the international insurance market, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

The agency quoted Yu Hua, a central bank official, as saying at a recent symposium in Shanghai that the number of insurance companies in China currently was insufficient to meet demand.

The insurance sector earned 36.87 billion yuan (US$4.44 billion) in the first half of 1996, an increase of 32 percent from the same period a year earlier, the report said.

There are only 21 insurance companies dealing in life and property insurance in China, including seven which are foreign- funded.

"This does not meet the growing demand, however, and much of the insurance offered does not cover most aspects of life," Yu said. "China will try to perfect its laws related to insurance and to increase the number of insurance companies this year."