An official with the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said a widely-watched regulation on reinsurance companies, which encourages insurers to cede premiums domestically, is expected to come out by the end of this year.[newsphoto]

An official with the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) also said a widely-watched regulation on reinsurance companies, which encourages insurers to cede premiums domestically, is expected to come out by the end of this year. The ceding of premiums means that the insurers will give part of the premiums to a reinsurance firm, which will share part of losses when they occur.

"An appropriate level of competition will only do good to the market as prices and terms will be more fair and services will be better," said Wang Simiao, deputy director of the CIRC's Reinsurance Regulatory Division, in an interview.

"But we will prevent excessive competition, or the operational costs will be too high and endanger the solvency of insurance companies," she said.

The remarks come days after General Re Corporation, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, opened its Chinese branch in the nation's financial hub of Shanghai, following the precedent of Munich Re and Swiss Re six months ago.

The Chinese reinsurance market, with China Reinsurance Group as the only current local player, badly needs new underwriting capacity from global players such as General Re, as the rapidly-growing primary insurance industry keeps generating huge demand for reinsurance arrangements, analysts say.

China's insurance industry has boasted an impressive 30 per cent average growth rate during the past 20 years. Property insurance premiums surged by 23 per cent in the first half of this year, although the life sector reported its first decline in a few years as major players trimmed unprofitable operations.

And although the CIRC has expressed support for local companies setting up reinsurance businesses earlier this year, they seem to be balking at the high technical complexity of the business and a lack of expertise and reinsurance professionals.

"We have not yet received any applications," Wang said.

Instead, foreign reinsurers are currently applying for licences in China, she said, without elaborating.

Analysts have expressed concern about the impact of growing foreign competition on China Re, which lags far behind its foreign rivals in terms of expertise and capital strength.

(China Daily)

underwriting : the business of taking responsibility for fulfilling an insurance agreementan（保险业）

solvency: the ability of paying（偿付能力）