Bucking the global trend of cutting jobs and freezing new posts amid the global recession, Chinese life insurers have decided to go on a hiring spree.

PICC Life Insurance Co, the country's sixth largest life insurer by market share, plans to double the number of insurance agents this year, the company's top management told China Daily on Tuesday.

The staff increase, said Zhu Shuiming, manager of the marketing department of PICC Life, is mainly to fuel the company's business expansion in second-tier cities this year.

Established in 2005, PICC Life has branches in 31 provinces and 205 outlets across the country. The company's premium income more than tripled over last year to 4.5 billion yuan in January, making it the fastest-growing life insurer in China. It currently has a total sales force of around 107,700.

"Along with the business expansion, hiring more insurance agents is a natural choice for us," said Zhu. "The sluggish job market does make our job easier."

According to Zhu, the company will mainly target emigrant workers returning to their hometowns, in line with its strategy of tapping markets in counties and towns.

China's largest life insurers have already set their eyes on rural areas where the market is under-developed and the competition is not so fierce.

"After gaining experience in cities, the migrants have a broader horizon. And they are usually betted educated than those staying at home," Zhu added.

Ti Jianshe, general manager of New China Life Insurance Beijing branch, said the company aims to increase staff strength by 50-100 percent this year.

"For insurance companies, qualified agents are the fundamental driving force for business profit," said Ti.

CNinsure Inc, a NASDAQ-listed insurance agency and brokerage company operating in China, also plans to add 11,500 employees this year, an increase of 42.6 percent year-on-year.

"We will take the crisis as a chance to reshuffle our business structure," said Hu Yinan, chairman, Cninsure.

In a financial crisis, people's demand for insurance policies are expected to increase rather then drop, said Sheng Ruisheng, spokesman of Ping An, the country's second largest life insurer.

"More people will tend to buy insurance policies this year as they offer better investment returns than bank deposits and carry lower risks than securities," said Sheng. He said Ping An's sales force will continue to grow this year. The company's sales staff jumped from 200,000 in 2006 to 330,000 in 2008.

(China Daily February 18, 2009)