China: An Insurance (PRC Firms) Overview

Review of Developments in China’s Insurance Law Field

In 2025, a pivotal year for China’s insurance law sector, the National Administration of Financial Regulation (NAFR) advanced a series of critical regulatory revisions and new enactments aimed at adapting to market evolution, strengthening risk prevention mechanisms, fulfilling international opening-up commitments and promoting high-quality development in the insurance industry. Notably, amendments to maritime insurance provisions in the newly revised Maritime Code also warrant in-depth analysis.

Strengthening of capital supervision system: implementation of new capital adequacy guarantee regulations

In 2025, NAFR promulgated the Administrative Measures for Insurance Companies’ Capital Adequacy Guarantees, featuring five key reforms:

• eliminating restrictions on bank types;
• optimising conditions for designated banks;
• enhancing deposit formats;
• raising minimum single-deposit thresholds; and
• streamlining disposal procedures.

The revised measures significantly elevate bank qualification standards while implementing the Mainland-Hong Kong-Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) service trade agreement to expand eligible banking institutions. Insurers are now required to place capital guarantees with at least two commercial banks and establish ongoing monitoring mechanisms.

Convergence of information disclosure and suitability management standards

In 2025, NAFR issued two landmark regulations:

• Administrative Measures for Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products by Banking and Insurance Institutions; and
• Administrative Measures for Product Suitability of Financial Institutions.

These measures aim to unify disclosure standards for asset management products and strengthen consumer protection.

The Administrative Measures for Information Disclosure of Asset Management Products encompass full life-cycle disclosure requirements for public and private funds, adopting a “penetrative disclosure principle” mandating underlying asset disclosure (excluding publicly offered funds) and implementing differentiated disclosure standards.

The Administrative Measures for Product Suitability integrate insurance products into a comprehensive suitability framework. For product grading, insurers must classify products into at least five tiers based on risk levels (with investment-linked insurance subject to the “higher-risk principle”). Client assessment processes have been strengthened, with online sales requiring embedded suitability workflows and special attention to vulnerable groups such as elderly consumers.

Policy empowerment for health insurance and digital finance

NAFR unveiled twin policy frameworks – the Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Health Insurance and the Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of Digital Finance in Banking and Insurance Industry – to drive deeper integration between insurance, healthcare and technology.

The Guiding Opinions on Promoting High-Quality Development of Health Insurance propose a “new-type health service protection system” featuring:

• product innovation supporting floating-rate health insurance;
• enhanced reimbursement flexibility for innovative drugs/devices;
• standardisation of urban medical insurance adhering to actuarial principles; and
• inter-industry data interoperability to address “information silos”.

The Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of Digital Finance emphasises a “dual-wheel drive of digital technology and data elements”. Key initiatives include:

• focusing on eight sectors (tech enterprises, advanced manufacturing, green economy, etc) to leverage AI for risk management;
• upgrading data governance standards through enterprise-level data platforms; and
• strengthening cybersecurity safeguards for mobile banking channels.

Modernisation of marine insurance rules

Amendments to the Maritime Code’s marine insurance chapter focus on scope of application, duty of disclosure, and warranty clauses. Key changes include:

• clarifying that construction vessel insurance contracts fall under marine insurance rules (subject to “marine insurance incidents”);
• adapting the duty of disclosure to a “prompt disclosure by insurer, passive explanation by insured” model (aligning with the Civil Code); and
• refining warranty clauses to stipulate that insurers may deny claims for breach of warranties unless the insured proves no causal link to the insured event.

Deepening of the measures for the asset-liability management of insurance companies

In 2025, NAFR issued its Measures for the Asset-Liability Management of Insurance Companies (Draft for Comment). The formulation of these Measures is based on a dual background: on the one hand, to implement the State Council’s requirement of “strengthening coordinated supervision over assets and liabilities” put forward in 2024; on the other hand, to address the challenges arising from the implementation of new accounting standards in 2026.

The formulation of the Measures follows four core ideas:

• adhering to problem orientation, focusing on solving practical problems such as the disconnection between asset and liability management and unclear policies and procedures;
• emphasising economic substance, ensuring that indicator settings truly reflect the company’s economic value and risk level;
• focusing on management optimisation, helping enterprises improve their operational management level through standardised indicators; and
• strengthening institutional co-ordination, unifying indicator calculation calibres to enhance the adaptability of regulatory rules.

Compared with the current regulations, the new Measures will achieve important breakthroughs:

• integrating the requirements previously scattered in the Interim Measures for Asset-Liability Management of Insurance Companies and five regulatory rules to form a unified and complete regulatory framework;
• optimising the calculation calibres of indicators, incorporating the risk hedging effect of financial derivative instruments into the duration calculation;
• extending the evaluation cycle of cost-benefit indicators to three to five years; and
• improving regulatory measures, specifying diversified regulatory tools such as regulatory talks and special stress tests.

Future outlook

The achievements in 2025 lay a new foundation for systemic transformation from passive compliance to proactive risk management. Future developments will deepen along these dimensions.

Technology integration and regtech empowerment

With accelerated adoption of AI and blockchain, regulatory frameworks must enhance technological adaptability. Future steps may include establishing regulatory sandboxes for innovation testing under controlled conditions, while leveraging big data for dynamic risk monitoring – evolving from static compliance to real-time risk alert systems.

Data governance and cross-sector collaboration

Convergence with healthcare, finance and technology will generate new risk profiles. There will be a focus on establishing cross-sector data standards, clarifying ownership boundaries and legislating “usable but invisible” data protocols.

Internationalisation and standard alignment

Amid two-way market opening, enhancement of solvency regulation will remain prioritised. Focus areas include promoting international standard-setting for green insurance and cyber-insurance, while exporting China’s regulatory experience through Belt and Road initiatives.

Comprehensive risk coverage network

Future efforts will improve counter-cyclical tools and establish specialised stress testing for climate change, longevity risks, etc. Behavioural regulation will be strengthened through consumer education and dispute resolution innovations, forming a tripartite governance ecosystem encompassing institutions, markets and policyholders.

In summary

The 2025 regulatory direction will continue to yield strategic value: through synergistic upgrades to capital adequacy, disclosure and asset-liability management systems, China’s insurance law framework will not only become more refined and internationally aligned but also contribute “Chinese wisdom” to global insurance governance.

中国保险法领域发展综述

2025年是中国保险法领域的关键一年。国家金融监督管理总局推动了一系列重要法规的修订与出台，旨在适应市场新发展、强化风险防控、落实开放承诺，并促进保险业高质量发展。新修订的《海商法》中与海上保险相关的部分也值得深入研判。

资本监管体系的强化：资本保证金新规落地

2025年，金融监管总局发布了《保险公司资本保证金管理办法》，其核心内容体现在五大方向：

• 取消银行类型限制；
• 优化存放银行条件；
• 完善存放形式；
• 提高单笔存款下限；
• 简化处置流程。

新办法在银行资质门槛方面有显著提升，同时落实内地与港澳新版CEPA服务贸易协议，扩大合规银行范围。新规要求保险公司选择两家以上商业银行存放资本保证金，并建立持续监控机制。

信息披露与适当性管理的统一化趋势

2025年，金融监管总局发布两项标志性的新规

• 《银行保险机构资产管理产品信息披露管理办法》

• 《金融机构产品适当性管理办法》

这些办法旨在统一资管产品披露标准、强化消费者保护。

《银行保险机构资产管理产品信息披露管理办法》覆盖公私募产品的全生命周期披露要求，其特点包括“穿透披露原则”，要求对底层资产（除公募基金外）进行穿透披露，同时体现差异化披露要求。

《金融机构产品适当性管理办法》则将保险产品全面纳入适当性管理框架。在产品分级方面，要求基于产品风险由低至高至少分为五级，投资型保险（如投连险）需按孰高原则定级。客户评估得到强化，线上销售需特别关注合规要求，通过互联网销售时需嵌入适当性流程，并兼顾老年人等特殊群体需求。

健康保险与数字金融的政策赋能

金融监管总局发布两项配套政策框架《关于推动健康保险高质量发展的指导意见》和《银行业保险业数字金融高质量发展实施方案》，以此推动保险业与医疗、科技深度融合。

《关于推动健康保险高质量发展的指导意见》提出构建“新型健康服务保障体系”，重点包括：

• 产品创新，支持浮动收益型健康保险发展；

• 提升对创新药械的支付灵活性;

• 规范城市险，要求商业医疗保险遵循保险原则；

• 跨行业数据互通，破解“信息孤岛”问题。

《银行业保险业数字金融高质量发展实施方案》强调“数字技术与数据要素双轮驱动”。核心举措包括：

• 覆盖科技型企业、先进制造业、绿色经济等八大领域，鼓励利用AI优化风控；

• 数据治理要求升级，要求金融机构建设企业级数据中台；

• 强化移动端银行渠道的数据安全防护。

海上保险规则的现代化

新《海商法》对海上保险章的修改集中于适用范围、告知义务、保证条款等。核心变化包括：

• 明确建造中船舶保险合同适用海上保险规则，但需以“海上保险事故”为前提；
• 告知义务有所调整，借鉴《民法典》，采用“主动提示、被动说明”模式；
• 保证条款得到细化，规定违反保证条款后，保险人原则上不赔，除非被保险证明违约与事故无关。

保险公司资产负债管理办法的深化

2025年，国家金融监督管理总局发布了《保险公司资产负债管理办法（征求意见稿）》。该办法的制定基于双重背景：一方面为落实2024年国务院关于"强化资产负债联动监管"的要求，另一方面为应对2026年新会计准则实施带来的挑战。

办法制定遵循四大核心思路：

• 坚持问题导向，重点解决资产和负债管理脱节、政策程序不清晰等实际问题；
• 强调经济实质，确保指标设置真实反映公司经济价值和风险水平；
• 注重管理优化，通过标准化指标帮助企业提升经营管理水平；
• 加强制度协调，统一指标计算口径，增强监管规则适应性。

与现行规定相比，新办法将实现重要突破：

• 整合过去分散在暂行办法和五项监管规则中的要求，形成统一完整的监管框架；
• 优化指标计算口径，将金融衍生工具风险对冲作用纳入久期计算；
• 延长评价周期，将成本收益指标评价周期拉长至3-5年；
• 完善监管措施，明确监管谈话、专项压力测试等多元化监管工具。

未来展望

2025年中国保险法领域的发展成果为行业奠定了新基调，标志着监管范式从"被动合规"向"主动风险管理"的系统性转型。未来，保险法改革将围绕以下维度深化推进：

技术融合与监管科技赋能

随着人工智能、区块链等技术在保险业的深度应用，监管框架需进一步强化科技适配性。未来可探索建立监管沙盒机制，鼓励创新产品在风险可控环境下测试运行，同时利用大数据动态监测市场风险，实现从静态合规向实时风险预警的升级。 

数据治理与跨行业协同

保险业与医疗、金融、科技领域的交叉融合将催生新型风险形态。跨行业数据共享标准需要被构建，以此来明确数据权属与使用边界，通过立法确立"数据可用不可见"的合规路径。

国际化与标准对接

在保险业双向开放背景下，需持续优化偿付能力监管体系，重点推动绿色保险、网络安全保险等新兴领域国际标准制定，通过"一带一路"合作框架输出中国监管经验。

风险全覆盖监管网络

未来将健全逆周期监管工具，针对气候变化、长寿风险等系统性风险建立专项压力测试机制。同时强化行为监管，通过消费者教育、纠纷解决机制创新，构建"机构-市场-消费者"三维治理生态。 

总结

2025年确立的监管方向将延续其战略价值：通过资本保证金、信息披露、资产负债管理等制度的协同升级，中国保险法体系不仅更趋精细化和国际化，更为全球保险治理贡献“中国智慧”。