In response to the State’s call for stronger financial industry regulation and risk prevention, the State Council of China recently issued the Opinions on Strengthening Supervision and Preventing Risks to Promote the High-Quality Development of Insurance Industry (GF[2024] No.21), clearly proposing to preliminarily form a high-quality development framework for the insurance industry by 2029, including significant changes in the maritime insurance sector and other insurance fields.

The document emphasizes that the insurance industry, as an important part of the national economy, must adhere to serving the real economy, enhancing its protection capabilities, and improving service levels. In terms of maritime insurance, the document points out the need to accelerate the development of maritime insurance and improve maritime protection capabilities, which is of great significance for ensuring the stable growth of China's foreign trade and the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative.

The specific measures proposed in the document include:

1.Strengthening Regulation: Strictly approving the establishment of new insurance institutions, optimizing institutional layout, promoting business level management, and ensuring the compliance and stability of maritime insurance business.

2.Strict Shareholder Qualification Review: Prohibiting non-compliant enterprises from becoming major shareholders or actual controllers of insurance institutions, ensuring the healthy and stable shareholding structure of maritime insurance institutions.

3.Continuous Supervision: Strengthening corporate governance supervision, promoting the organic integration of party leadership and corporate governance, and improving internal control, compliance, and risk management systems.

4.Risk Prevention: Establishing a risk-based regulatory system, improving the risk classification system for insurance assets, and strengthening counter-cyclical regulation.

5.Serving the Real Economy: Focusing on major national strategies and key areas, exploring the provision of a package of risk management and financial service solutions, and helping to facilitate domestic and international dual circulation.

6.Reform and Opening Up: Continuing to promote the reform and opening up of the insurance industry, supporting high-quality foreign insurance institutions to establish legal entities and branches in China, and encouraging Chinese insurance institutions to steadily expand overseas business.

7.Sustainable Development: Enhancing the accuracy of product pricing, improving the level of digitalization, and strengthening the internal momentum for high-quality development.

8.Policy Coordination: Improving the central and local collaborative work mechanism, strengthening macro policy coordination, and deepening inter-ministerial coordination.

Insiders believe that these measures will help to improve the overall service quality and risk management capabilities of the maritime insurance industry, and also provide clearer development guidance and policy support for participants in the maritime insurance market. With the gradual implementation of the policy, it is expected that China's maritime insurance industry will usher in a new round of development opportunities.

Such guidance of the State Council not only puts forward clear requirements for the maritime insurance industry but also reflects the State’s firm determination to achieve high-quality development in the financial insurance industry. In the future, maritime insurance will play a more important role in serving national strategies, ensuring international trade, and promoting economic development.