Premium income for the Chinese insurance industry rose by 19.9% in the January to October period, according to regulator data.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) revealed in an online notice that in the first 10 months of the year, premium income reached RMB3.24 trillion (US$491 billion).

Total insurance industry assets were at 16.62 trillion (US$2.52) as of end-October, a 9.94% increase from the previous year, reported Reuters.

The property insurance sector also saw premium income climb 14.4% to RMB858.97 billion (US$130 billion).

Insurance premium growth slowed slightly, following a wide-reaching industry clean-up by CIRC, which aimed to discourage insurers’ super-aggressive investment practices and use of long-term funds, such as premiums for short-term investments, while chasing high returns.

Several insurers were penalised by the regulator, including fines, bans from issuing new products, and removal of executives.

According to experts, the industry slowdown is expected to continue, as the CIRC wants the insurance industry to stick to its main mission of providing long-term security.


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