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Insurance
In 1981, the People’s Insurance
Company of China was transformed from an administrative institution
into a specialized company. It then established an organizational
structure extending from the head office and branch offices at the
provincial or equivalent level down to sub-branch offices at the
county level. In 1988, the Safety Insurance Company was established,
with its business mainly in the coastal areas. Subsequently, the
Pacific Insurance Company was set up, providing services all over
the country. In 1996, the People’s Insurance Company of China made
a big stride in the transfer of its administrative system and operation
methods, establishing a modern enterprise system, and linking up
with the international market. The issuing of the Insurance Law
and the founding of the China Insurance Supervision and Control
Committee provided a legal basis and operating procedures for the
operations of the insurance market. In 1999, there were 29 insurance
companies nationwide, of which four were state-owned ones, 10 were
joint-stock ones, five were Sino-foreign joint-venture ones and
10 were branches of foreign insurance companies. Thus, a new insurance
system with the state-owned insurance companies at its center, coexisting
and competing with many other insurance companies, has begun to
take shape. At the same time, exchanges and cooperation between
the Chinese and international insurance markets have been strengthened.
By the end of 1999, representative offices had been set up in China
by over 100 insurance organizations from other countries and regions.
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Ten
percent of peasants in China have now joined the rural pension scheme.
In this scene old folks in Juntun Village of Zhanzhou City, Hunan
Province receive their insurance money.
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After the insurance
industry in China resumed its activities, at first it only handled
property insurance for enterprises. Now, many insurance companies
handle more than 280 kinds of insurance coverage both at home and
abroad, and the industry is gradually approaching the business range
common in the international insurance industry. In 1999, the income
of insurance businesses (solely foreign-funded organizations included)
totaled 139.3 billion yuan, of which 52.1 billion yuan came from property
insurance, 76.8 billion yuan from life insurance, and 10.4 billion
yuan from health insurance and accidental injury insurance. The various
indemnities totaled 51 billion yuan, of which 31.8 billion yuan was
for property insurance and short-term personal insurance, and 19.2
billion yuan for life insurance. |
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