Agricultural Insurance Is Huge but Less Regulatory in China

BEIJING, Nov 12, 2009 (SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) --

Data show that China saw an endorsed premium income of CNY 12 billion from agricultural insurance in the first nine months of 2009, with a 31% rise year on year; and it was already beyond the number for the full year 2008, according to the first China Agricultural Insurance Underwriter Joint Conference sponsored by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, the nation's top insurance regulator.

Currently, China has ranked first in Asia and second in the world by the size of its agricultural insurance's premium income. Agricultural insurance has been the third biggest insurance class in its property insurance niche.

In the above period, agricultural insurance services covered Chinese farmers and peasants with more than CNY 330 billion, over 53.33 million hectares farmland, 510 million units of domestic animal and poultry, and 120 million breeders.

However, agricultural insurance practices are still at a trial stage, and need to be institutionalized.