China’s insurance industry experienced stable premium growth but also a surge in claims in Q1, according to the latest figures from the National Financial Regulatory Administration.
Insurance premium income for the first quarter stood at 2.2 trillion yuan (US$303.80bn), reflecting a 5.1% year-on-year increase. Notably, the number of new policy pieces issued was 20.6bn, a 30.1% increase over the same period last year.
However, claims reached 735.2 billion yuan (US$101.49bn), which represents a surge of 47.8% compared to Q1 2023.
The total assets of insurance companies reached 32.9 trillion yuan (US$4,542.23bn), marking an increase of 1.4 trillion yuan (US$193.33bn) from the beginning of the year, up 4.4%.
General insurance companies held assets worth 2.9 trillion yuan (US$400.47bn), while personal insurance companies had assets amounting to 28.6 trillion yuan (US$3,948.40bn), up 4.4% from the start of the year. Reinsurance companies reported total assets of 775.1 billion yuan (US$107.02bn), an increase of 3.8%, and insurance asset management companies saw a 14.9% rise, reaching 120.9 billion yuan (US$16.70bn), according to the data.
The NAFR reported that the insurance industry’s consolidated solvency adequacy ratio was 195.6%, while the core solvency adequacy ratio was 130.3%.
Property and casualty insurance companies reported a consolidated solvency adequacy ratio of 234.1% and a core solvency adequacy ratio of 206.3%. Personal insurance companies had a consolidated solvency adequacy ratio of 186.2% and a core solvency adequacy ratio of 113.5%. Reinsurance companies reported a consolidated solvency adequacy ratio of 264.4% and a core solvency adequacy ratio of 229.1%.
