Authored by Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com), Sharif Hendry(sharifhendry@anjielaw.com), Yu Dan(yudan@anjielaw.com) and Chen Jun( chenjun@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm.

ZhongAn, a Chinese insurance company selling online insurance products, is representative of a new wave of “insurtech” companies; insurers engaging with online distribution models (or tech companies foraying into insurance) that recognize the gains to be had by entering this emerging market. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (NDRC) has been forthright in recognizing and encouraging innovation centered on new types of insurance products and online distribution on a national level, and on the back of this favorable regulatory environment, companies and investors are following suit.

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Authored by Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Dong Xin at AnJie Law Firm

In China, amidst fierce competition amongst insurance companies, more and more investors, both domestic and foreign, are striving to enter this market. Relevant regulations concerning investment limits and the qualifications for shareholders to invest in Chinese insurance companies are a continuing focal point for potential investors.

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Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Kang Xin at AnJie Law Firm.

A declaration of death is a civil declaration that may be granted when a natural person is missing from his or her usual residence and his or her whereabouts have been unknown for the requisite period set by law, and for which an interested person may apply to the people’s court. Article 23 of the General Principles of the Civil Law of the People’s Republic of China provides that:

"Under any of the following circumstances, an interested person may apply to the people’s court for the declaration of a citizen’s death: (1) if the citizen’s whereabouts have been unknown for four years; or (2) if the citizen’s whereabouts have been unknown for two years after the date of an accident in which he was involved."

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Authored by Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Sharif Hendry (sharifhendry@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

In the first meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump at a summit held on 6-7 April 2017, the two leaders set the tone for future cooperation on a wide range of issues, not least market access between the two countries. According to Chinese and US officials, better access for US financial sector investments into China was mooted for inclusion as part of a “100 day plan” to improve trade-ties1. This could have interesting implications for the Chinese insurance industry, and make inward investment by US financial houses an increasingly advantageous proposition.

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    Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Sharif Hendry(sharifhendry@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

As of today, the recently adopted ‘China Risk Oriented Solvency System’, also known as “C-ROSS”, is theonly regime by which a Mainland insurer’s capital adequacy is regulated. Following the implementation of China’s 13th Five-Year plan in 2016, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), as the industry’s sole regulator, published an outline of the plan, including several goals relating to the reformation, innovation and regulation of the insurance industry. This draws interesting comparisons with the overseas capital adequacy regimes of other major jurisdictions, notably with Solvency II in the EU. Both these reforms mark a fundamental shift towards a risk-based, market-oriented approach to estimating capital requirements, being geared as they are towards individual insurance entities, rather than the previous "one-model-fits-all" approach.  This is expected to lead to greater market efficiency in managing risk, and enhance consumer protection. For China, it marks a renewed focus on both volume and value for the domestic insurance sector, implicitly recognizing that better risk management includes all drivers of product profitability, including product terms and conditions, guarantees, pricing and underwriting . As a result, the transition towards fully implementing, supervising and enforcing the C-ROSS regime is already having far reaching repercussions.

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Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Wan Jia (wanjia@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

The surety bond market has developed significantly for insurers in China since this year, and it has become one of the most important methods for financial guarantee. Due to the lack of clear judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme Court of PRC, however, the applicable laws pertaining to surety bonds issued by insurers in China, and their nature, are still highly controversial. This article seeks to analyze the very specific question of whether the “accessory principal” prescribed by the Guarantee Law of PRC, is applicable to surety bonds issued by the insurers in China. 

    Authored by Dr. Zhan Hao (zhanhao@anjielaw.com) and Liang Bing (liangbing@anjielaw.com) at AnJie Law Firm

Since the issuance of Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Modern Insurance Service Industry on August 10, 2014, credit insurance has been increasingly applied in insurance practice. However, “credit insurance ” is different from “warranty” in Chinese Guarantee Law，and there is a heated discussion on the nature of a credit insurance.  

In the Chinese P2P or the other transactions, credit insurance is often used to protect creditors’ benefits. In this paper, we are going to discuss the points creditors need to be aware of.