China's insurance sector reports steady H1 growth, improving structure: association

BEIJING -- China's insurance industry recorded premium income of 3.86 trillion yuan ($568.5 billion) during the first half (H1) of 2026, up 3.3 percent year-on-year, with continued optimization in product structure, according to the latest data released by the Insurance Association of China (IAC).

During the period, property insurers saw premium income rise 2.1 percent year-on-year, while life insurers' premium income increased 3.6 percent, the IAC said.

The IAC data also showed that the insurance premium income from non-auto insurance business reached 534.26 billion yuan in H1, accounting for 54 percent of total property insurers' premium income.

In recent years, property insurers have been vigorously developing non-auto insurance products, such as technology insurance and agriculture insurance, said Fang Yong, deputy secretary-general of the IAC, noting that the share of non-auto business has surged from 25 percent a decade ago to overtake that of auto insurance.

The structure of life insurance products has also seen a shift, with the premium from participating insurance, which pays dividends to policyholders, soaring 94.4 percent to 1.01 trillion yuan in H1. Fu Yifu, a researcher at Jiangsu Su Merchants Bank, noted that the fast growth in participating insurance income requires insurers to improve their asset and liability management.

In September 2024, China has issued guidelines calling that the country's insurance industry should have a complete market system, diversified products and services, scientific and effective supervision, and strong international competitiveness by 2035.