Source: asiainsurancereview.com

The Insurance Association of China (IAC) has published its 2019 social responsibility report. This is the first of its kind for the insurance sector, focusing on the five areas – nation, society, industry, environment, and individuals – outlining the main work completed by the insurance industry in meeting its social responsibility in 2019.

Last year, China’s insurance industry raked in a total of CNY4.26tn ($625.5bn) in premium income. Meanwhile, compensation and benefit payouts totalled CNY1.29tn in 2019.

Among various highlights, the report points out that:

– As of 1 July, compensation expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic had reached CNY516m covering 216,300 cases, the report says.

– In supporting regional integrated development, funds offered by the insurance sector for the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region had surpassed CNY600bn and CNY250bn respectively by the end of last year.

– In 2019, agricultural insurance premium income totalled CNY67.3bn, basically covering common crops and offering 425 exclusive agricultural insurance products for poverty alleviation, and the development of new types of insurance such as price insurance, income insurance, and “insurance + futures”.

– The Urban and Rural Residential Earthquake Catastrophe Insurance Pool provided 3.6m households with CNY60.56bn of earthquake risk protection last year.

– In 2019, the insurance industry’s first set of standard national insurance terminology was officially implemented.

– As of the end of 2019, electronic archiving services covered 66 insurance companies in 35 regions including Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen, and the industry saved CNY138m in costs.