China’s insurance industry in the twenty-first century: challenges facing Chinese insurers

The data in Table 10.1 shows that the Chinese insurance market grew at an incredible speed. The growth rate of the premium income of life insurance was 81 per cent between 1982 and 2002 and the premium income of property insurance was 24 per cent for the same period. In 1997, the premium income of life insurance surpassed the premium income of property insurance for the first time. In 2002, the premium income of life insurance accounted for 75 per cent of China’s total premium incomes, reaching RMB 227,480 million China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC, 2003).