China's insurance sector paid out nearly 300 billion yuan (US$37.5 billion) in claims between 2003 to 2005, said a senior official with China's insurance watchdog on Wednesday.

 

Li Kemu, vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), said that the insurance sector has become important to China's economic development.

 

China's insurers collected almost two thirds more in premiums in 2005 alone than they paid out in claims in the previous three years combined. The sector brought in premiums worth 492.7 billion yuan in 2005, ranking 11th in the world

 

The insurance sector's premiums have grown at annual average rate of 17.3 percent since 2002, eight percentage points higher than the world average level.

 

According to CIRC statistics, total assets of Chinese insurance companies reached 1.8 trillion yuan with the capital totaling 110 billion yuan.

 

China opened its insurance sector to foreign investors on Dec. 11 of 2004.

 

China now has about 100 insurance institutions of various forms including state-controlled, joint-stock and foreign invested, he said.

 

There were 40 foreign-invested insurance companies in China in 2005, with a market share of 6.7 percent.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2006)