Universal Life – China

…why has the sailing been smooth for mature products similar to universal life insurance abroad, while in China things have been so turbulent? (p57)

2017 0623 – IMF – Strengthening Financial and Exchange Rate Frameworks – 230p – [Link to Download page -> Conference ebook
  • Until 1999, there was not any kind of participating, universal, or variable life insurance products in the mainland China.
    • This situation is changing. 

2000 – SOA – New Trend of Life Insurance Products in China, by Samuel Zhou, isn-2000-iss23-zhou – Society of Actuaries – 2p

  • 2016 1205 – Reuters – China suspends Foresea Life from selling “universal life” insurance – [link]
  • 2017 0316 – Caixin Global – Government Clampdown on Insurers’ High-Yield Offerings Hits Small Firms – [link]
  • Restrictions were placed on universal life products, which in China often are more akin to shells for short-term savings.  (p26)
2017 0617 – SOA – Exploring Trends in Chinese Insurance Regulations, by Hans Wagner, The Actuary, act-2017-vol15-iss3 – Society of Actuaries – 68p
  • p34 – Positively speaking, life reinsurers are set to benefit greatly from the shift toward protection products that can be observed across emerging Asia.
    • China is a particularly striking example: life premiums
      contracted by more than 5 percent in 2018, after expanding at a double-digit average rate over the past 10 years.
    • This drop reflects regulatory tightening affecting sales of short-term universal life policies, in line with the government’s strategic intent to engineer a shift toward protection-type products that address emerging challenges, such as the rise of chronic diseases, and to
      mitigate financial risks arising from wealth management-type short-term insurance products.

2019 11 – SOA – The Dynamics of Emerging Asia’s Life Insurance Markets-Findings From a Recent Peak Re Executive Survey, By Franz Josef Hahn – Reinsurance News, Issue 95, 2019-reinsurance-news-issue-95 – Society of Actuaries – 40p