About 1.22 million fishermen in China have become members of a
mutual insurance network named China Fishery Shipowners Mutual
Insurance Association (CFPI), with 43,700 fishing boats covered.
The CFPI, China's first non-governmental mutual insurance
organization, has handled 19,000 cases and paid a total 140 million
yuan (US$16.94 million) in the seven years since it was
founded.
The association now has a reserve fund of 47 million yuan (US$5.69
million), mainly coming from the premiums collected from members as
a nonprofit group, the CFPI source said Saturday when the
association held its second national conference here.
Vice Minister of
Agriculture Qi Jingfa said at the conference that the mutual
insurance among fishermen is a more effective way to guard their
safety and property than other insurance programs, as fishermen
face obvious risks on the job.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, China suffers a loss of 4
billion yuan (US$483.87 million) annually due to shipwreck and
other disasters inthe ocean.
Some state-owned insurance companies had been offering coverageto
fishermen backed by the government before the mutual network was
developed.
"But as companies seeking profits, they will turn their back on
some risky programs and those programs are usually what fishermen
really need," said a CFPI official Sun Yingshi.
"Many fishing boats are made of wood with small engine power and
this makes them more vulnerable to accidents," he said. "These
boats are usually not covered by insurance programs."
About 40 percent of fishing boats covered by the CFPI program have
engine power of less than 60 HP; the association also offers
coverage to those boats with less than 40 HP.
"When it comes to the damage of fishing boats, the CFPI finishes
the checkup more quickly than ordinary insurance companies as its
employees are familiar with fishing," said Chen Wenliang, a
community worker from Qingdao of east China's Shandong Province.
Chen has close contact with about 400 fisherman familiesin his
community.
(Xinhua News
Agency January 12, 2002)