BEIJING: China became the world’s third largest insurance market in 2015, with insurance premiums surging in the past five years, according to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).
With an annual growth rate of 13.4 percent, insurance premiums increased from 1.3 trillion yuan (about 197.9 million U.S. dollars) in 2010 to 2.4 trillion yuan in 2015, CIRC data showed.
With the expanding insurance market in the world’s second largest economy, total assets of the whole insurance industry in China more than doubled from 5 trillion yuan in 2010 to 12 trillion yuan in 2015.
Experts attribute the performance of the industry to China’s growing economy and the people’s improving living standards.
On the back of such a booming market, insurance companies have experienced bumper years in the country.
The profits of the whole insurance sector totaled 282.4 billion yuan in 2015, compared to just 83.7 billion yuan in 2010 when China was home to the world’s sixth largest insurance market, CIRC data showed.
In 2015, China contributed 26 percent of the growth of global insurance market.
