Foreign insurers are to face a much higher threshold in entering the Chinese market, according to revised management rules concerning foreign insurers' representative offices in China released on the website of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) on July 21. The revised rules will come into effect as of September 1, 2006.

The new rules stipulate that foreign insurance institutions should have at least 20 years of continuous experience in running an insurance business to qualify for a license to set up a representative office in China. Foreign companies running non-insurance businesses should have a business history of more than 20 years. 

CIRC also requires foreign insurance institutions to submit two documents when applying for a license to set up a representative office in China. One is a feasible and necessary research report on establishing a representative office, the other is a statement about the chief representative-to-be confirming he or she has not been punished due to illegal behaviors in his or her home country or territory on record three years prior to the application.

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The full text is available in the July Issue of China Insurance.

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