Chen Wenhui, director of the Life-insurance Department of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said Chinese insurance companies are not specialized enough in group medical insurance and cannot meet market needs. "Therefore, ushering in foreign or joint-venture insurance firms is nothing less than a good way to accelerate the healthy development of group medical insurance," said Chen.

"We are actively working on the feasibility of foreign insurance companies providing group medical insurance," Chen told the first China Commercial Medical Insurance Forum, a two-day event that started on Saturday in Beijing.

The government is aggressively tapping the huge potential of commercial medical insurance to supplement the "basic" medical insurance system it is building. The commission said it sponsored the weekend forum to start a long-term platform for discussion. The forum, organized by the Taikang Life Insurance Co Ltd, brought together nearly 200 senior government officials, scholars and insurance company executives.

Wei Yingning, the commission's vice-chairman, told the forum: "The China Insurance Regulatory Commission will actively propel the specialization of commercial medical insurance, promote co-operation between commercial insurers and medical service providers, and encourage innovation of business models."

Chen Wenhui said his commission had completed draft rules on accelerating commercial medical insurance, which would soon be released after insurance companies' comments had been collected.

The commission is also examining the necessity and feasibility of establishing specialist medical insurance companies, Chen said. Life insurance firms are currently the sole provider of commercially based medical insurance in China, but an amendment last month to the Insurance Law has allowed property insurers to enter the burgeoning business.

Despite enormous market potential, Chinese insurers have remained cautious about medical insurance.

(China Daily November 4, 2002)