(Re)in Summary
- China seeks wider domestic trade credit insurance coverage, including for SMEs, supply chains and emerging industries.
- Insurers are encouraged to explore co-insurance for large credit exposures, while reinsurers are urged to increase support.
- Expansion will be paired with tighter underwriting controls, fraud prevention and industry-wide credit exposure monitoring.
China is seeking wider domestic trade credit insurance coverage to support domestic demand, encouraging co-insurance for large credit exposures in emerging industries and greater reinsurance support.
A joint notice dated 18 September from the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) and the Ministry of Commerce sets out nine priority tasks, pairing expansion with stronger underwriting controls, credit data sharing and industry-wide exposure monitoring.
Insurers are encouraged to explore co-insurance to meet large credit limit requirements in semiconductors, computing power and new-energy vehicles. The authorities also want improvements to the domestic trade credit insurance consortium’s operations, including credit limit assessments and claims coordination.
Reinsurers are urged to strengthen cooperation with direct insurers and increase support for the business, while insurers are encouraged to invest in specialist expertise, risk management and data capabilities.
The call comes amid broader efforts to develop China’s reinsurance market. In July 2026, the NFRA and Shanghai government issued eight reinsurance development measures, seeking to increase trading volumes, strengthen reinsurers’ capital and attract more international capacity.
To expand uptake, the domestic trade notice encourages local commerce authorities to share business lists with insurers and promotes coverage across supply chains through leading companies.
Insurers are also encouraged to develop differentiated underwriting approaches for services, digital and green trade, allocate more resources to goods transport and distribution, and improve access for small and medium-sized enterprises where risks remain manageable.
Beijing, Jiangsu, Fujian, Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan, alongside Ningbo and Shenzhen, have been identified for further exploration of domestic trade credit insurance. Other regions with suitable conditions are encouraged to expand coverage and insured amounts.
However, expansion must also proceed prudently. Insurers must verify the authenticity of underlying trade and obtain sufficient credit information on policyholders and counterparties before providing cover, particularly to prevent fraud involving fictitious transactions.
The notice also calls for industry sharing of fraud alerts and aggregate exposures to individual obligors and related parties to limit excessive credit concentration. It also supports controlled access to public business credit data and requires regional regulators to strengthen monitoring and inspections.
Local authorities are encouraged to use existing funding channels and government-bank-insurer cooperation to support uptake, with eligible regions able to develop targeted premium-support policies.
