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the new version of the "ten national policies" for the insurance industry was released. on september 11, the state council issued the "several opinions on strengthening supervision, preventing risks and promoting high-quality development of the insurance industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "several opinions"). the "several opinions" put forward new requirements in many aspects, including strict access to the insurance market, strict continuous supervision of insurance institutions, strong and orderly prevention and effective prevention and resolution of insurance industry risks, improving the level of insurance industry services for people's livelihood security, and improving the quality and efficiency of insurance industry services for the real economy.

from the release of the "several opinions of the state council on the reform and development of the insurance industry" in 2006, to the release of the "several opinions of the state council on accelerating the development of modern insurance services" in 2014, to the 3.0 version of the insurance industry's "ten national policies", industry insiders said that the release of the first two "ten national policies" for the insurance industry was accompanied by the rapid development of the insurance industry. the 3.0 version of the "ten national policies" for the insurance industry emphasizes the realization of high-quality development on the basis of adhering to the bottom line of risk, reflecting the orientation of giving equal importance to strong supervision and development.

three "strict"

the "several opinions" put forward three "strict" requirements, including strict approval of insurance institutions, strict review of the qualifications of managers and strict examination of the qualifications of shareholders.

regarding the requirement of the "several opinions" to strictly review and approve the establishment of new insurance institutions in accordance with the law, xie yuantao, dean of the school of insurance at the university of international business and economics, said that through strict review and approval of new insurance institutions and optimization of regional and hierarchical layouts, excessive concentration or disorderly competition among insurance institutions can be avoided, and the rational layout and healthy development of the insurance market can be promoted.

li wenzhong, deputy director of the rural insurance research institute of capital university of economics and business, said that the safety of the insurance industry itself is the premise for the sustainable development of the insurance industry, serving the people's livelihood and the real economy, and focusing on major national strategies and key areas. therefore, it is necessary to strictly control market access to prevent "diseases from the mouth" and to strictly and continuously supervise to keep insurance institutions and the insurance industry healthy.

according to liu chunsheng, associate professor at the central university of finance and economics, the quality of insurance institutions, shareholders and managers is directly related to the stability and development of the insurance industry. strict approval and review can ensure that only those truly powerful and reputable institutions and individuals can enter the insurance market, so as to protect the rights and interests of consumers and maintain fair competition in the market. strict and continuous supervision of insurance institutions is mainly because the insurance industry involves the interests of many consumers, and we must always remain vigilant to ensure the stability and healthy development of the market.

the opinions also proposed strengthening three types of supervision, including strict and continuous supervision of insurance institutions, strengthening the supervision of asset-liability linkage, and strengthening hierarchical and classified supervision. in terms of strengthening hierarchical and classified supervision, it is required to promote hierarchical and classified management of insurance sales personnel. strengthen the supervision of product-fee spread. rationally allocate supervision resources, implement high-risk and high-intensity supervision, and low-risk and low-intensity supervision. strictly prevent regulatory arbitrage and regulatory vacuum.

"the release of the "several opinions" aims to promote high-quality development of the insurance industry by strengthening supervision and preventing risks. this will have many positive impacts on serving national strategies, safeguarding people's livelihood, and promoting the stable operation of the economy and society," said li wenzhong.

enable the "exit mechanism"

it is time for the insurance industry to prevent and defuse risks. faced with a complex and changing market environment, the insurance industry continues to strengthen supervision, requiring insurance companies to improve their governance capabilities and ensure stable operations. at the same time, supervision continues to optimize the layout of insurance institutions and accelerate the reform and risk reduction of high-risk institutions.

in terms of steadily and prudently advancing risk management, the opinions also put forward more specific measures, including broadening the sources of risk management funds and supporting qualified enterprises to participate in the reform and risk reduction of insurance institutions. improve the market exit mechanism. for insurance institutions with high risks and no sustainable operating capacity, confiscate their financial licenses and enter bankruptcy liquidation procedures in accordance with the law. implement the local responsibility of local party committees and governments for risk management, strengthen the supervision responsibility of central financial management departments, and jointly promote risk management.

"in the past, we discussed more about the issue of access. now, we have established an exit mechanism and broken the rigid guarantee. this will help reduce the pressure on the insurance guarantee fund, reduce the burden and expenses of the entire insurance industry, and protect the rights and interests of consumers," said xie yuantao.

"the opinions put forward a series of specific policy measures, including strict control of insurance market access, strict and continuous supervision of insurance institutions, and serious rectification of insurance violations. these measures will help prevent and resolve insurance industry risks, maintain financial market stability, and protect the rights and interests of insurance consumers." regarding the impact of the above-mentioned risk prevention measures on the insurance industry, li wenzhong said that this shows that my country will adopt a more systematic and comprehensive approach to prevent and resolve risks in the insurance industry. on the one hand, it will guide and support forces outside the financial industry to participate in the disposal of risky institutions and enhance risk disposal capabilities; on the other hand, it will strictly implement risk institution disposal measures, remove institutions with serious problems from the market, and promote the survival of the fittest to enhance the competitiveness of insurance institutions and the sustainable development capabilities of the insurance industry.

improve people's livelihood and real economy service capabilities

the "several opinions" puts forward a number of requirements in terms of improving the insurance industry's level of service to people's livelihood security and improving the quality and efficiency of the insurance industry's service to the real economy.

among them, in terms of developing the third pillar of pension insurance, it is proposed to vigorously develop commercial insurance annuities to meet the people's diversified pension security and cross-period financial planning needs. it is encouraged to develop new products and exclusive products that are adapted to the individual pension system.

"the insurance industry needs innovative development to meet the people's diverse insurance needs." liu chunsheng said that specifically, it is necessary to actively develop the third pillar of pension insurance to help everyone better plan their retirement life; improve the level of health insurance service protection so that consumers can have more protection when they are sick; and improve the inclusive insurance system to make insurance services more popular and more beneficial to the people.

in order to improve the quality and efficiency of the insurance industry's services to the real economy, the "several opinions" proposed focusing on major national strategies and key areas; leveraging the long-term investment advantages of insurance funds, cultivating truly patient capital, and promoting a virtuous cycle of funds, capital, and assets.

regarding the two "services", xie yuantao said that this is the first principle of insurance. insurance returns to its original purpose of protection, which also reflects the people's nature. as for how insurance companies can better improve the level of insurance services for people's livelihood and the quality and efficiency of insurance services for the real economy, xie yuantao believes that on the one hand, product design should be more inclined towards protection products to better serve people's livelihood; on the other hand, the function of economic shock absorber and social stabilizer should be better utilized to boost the development of the real economy, promote the belt and road initiative, and ensure the two cycles.

li wenzhong also said that the "several opinions" emphasizes the important role of the insurance industry in protecting and improving people's livelihood, preventing disasters and reducing losses, and serving the real economy. by improving the insurance industry's protection capabilities and service levels, the people's growing insurance needs can be better met, especially by developing catastrophe insurance, pension insurance, health insurance, inclusive insurance, etc., and improving the insurance industry's level of service to people's livelihood.

clarify five-year and ten-year development goals

development is the eternal theme of the insurance industry, and the "several opinions" clearly defines the overall goal of high-quality development.

according to the opinions, by 2029, a framework for high-quality development of the insurance industry will be initially formed, with steadily expanding coverage, increasingly comprehensive protection, continuous improvement of services, sound and balanced asset allocation, sufficient solvency, and sound and effective governance and internal control. the insurance regulatory system will be more sound, and regulatory capacity and effectiveness will be greatly improved. by 2035, a new pattern of the insurance industry will be basically formed, with a complete market system, rich and diverse products and services, scientific and effective supervision, and strong international competitiveness.

li wenzhong said that the several opinions put forward development goals by 2029 and 2035, and clarified the timetable and roadmap for high-quality development of the insurance industry. this will help guide the insurance industry to develop in an orderly manner according to the established goals, and also provide a clear direction and basis for supervision.

the opinions also put forward requirements corresponding to "development", including enhancing the sustainable development capabilities of the insurance industry and strengthening policy coordination to promote high-quality development of the insurance industry. in terms of enhancing the sustainable development capabilities of the insurance industry, it is clearly required to establish a correct business perspective, performance perspective and risk perspective, and accelerate the transformation from pursuing speed and scale to focusing on value and benefits.

the opinions also proposed to deepen the reform and opening up of the insurance industry. for domestic insurance institutions, support large insurance institutions to become better and stronger, and guide small and medium-sized insurance companies to develop specialized operations.

li wenzhong said that requirements such as deepening reform and opening up of the insurance industry and enhancing the insurance industry's sustainable development capabilities will help improve the overall competitiveness and service quality of the insurance industry and promote the insurance industry to better serve the overall situation of china's modernization.

in addition, in terms of continuously promoting high-level opening up, the opinions clearly stated that it supports high-quality overseas insurance institutions to set up legal entities and branches in china. it supports qualified overseas institutions to invest in domestic insurance institutions. it encourages chinese insurance institutions to steadily expand overseas business and continuously improve their management and risk prevention capabilities. it also deepens international insurance regulatory exchanges and cooperation and actively participates in international insurance governance.

"opening up to the outside world is an important driving force for the reform and development of china's financial industry." on june 19, at the 2024 lujiazui forum, li yunze, director of the state financial supervision and administration bureau, delivered a keynote speech, saying that china will adhere to the principle of giving equal importance to "bringing in" and "going out", continue to create a first-class business environment, and unswervingly expand the high-level opening up of the financial industry. financial institutions will be guided to optimize cross-border financial services and deeply integrate into the high-quality joint construction of the "belt and road initiative". steadily expand institutional opening up, study the relaxation of the scope of foreign shareholders of non-bank financial institutions, encourage qualified foreign institutions to participate in various business pilots, and support foreign institutions in china to deepen their roots in china and operate steadily.

beijing business daily reporter hu yongxin