ABSTRACT
Competition law is an extremely complex area of law in constant evolution, and whose underpinning principles cross paths with economic and market theories. Its pervasive effects embrace every aspect of the market economy, including the insurance sector. The application of competition law to this sector has always posed serious questions, due to the atavistic need for cooperation between insurers in the form of joint statistical studies, coinsurance and reinsurance of large risks and the provision of standardised conditions for insureds. While the EU framework has developed gradually over some time, in China, competition regulation is a very recent phenomenon, which nevertheless poses the very same questions when it comes to its application to the insurance sector.
