At a seminar on insurance services held in Beijing from 20-24 May delegates from all sectors of China´s insurance industry travelled from as far away as Guang Dong, Shenzhen, Sichuan, Hunan and all provinces of China to discuss with international experts insurance practices in other parts of the world and the use of modern information technology in the insurance industry.
The seminar was reported in the press and on television in both Chinese and English language programmes reaching an estimated 800 million viewers. The central message was to highlight the important role of insurance to China´s economic development in three broad areas. Those relate to:
- the servicing of its one billion population - through the protection of individuals and households against damage and loss of property, life, and health;
- also, in relation to servicing China´s rapidly expanding industrial base which is the third largest in the world;
- and lastly, in terms of securing China´s infrastructure facilities which are growing at a very rapid rate.
The seminar received very strong support from a large delegation of participants who enthusiastically discussed new practices with the international experts. The 15 experts who spoke at the seminar were top ranking executives from leading international companies and organisations representing some of the top companies of the world including:
American Reinsurance Company, USA
The Association of British Insurers, UK
Commercial Union Assurance Company, UK
Eagle Star, Insurance Company, UK
IBM, UK Hong Kong, PRC
Lotus, PRC
Munich Reinsurance Company, Germany
Partner Reinsurance Company, Bermuda
Risk Management Solutions Inc., USA
Swiss Reinsurance Company, Switzerland
Their presentations were focused on six major areas of insurance which are becoming increasingly important to China.
These issues also relate to China´s new industrial and large risks. They include : Reinsurance to ensure that large risks can be covered to the maximum forseeable extent : Catastrophe Insurance to offset the impact of disasters such as floods which can undermine and retrograde economic progress ; Engineering Insurance for coverage of industrial technology ; Business Interruption insurance to minimize the risk of loss directly and indirectly associated with industrial operations ; Liability Insurance which is associated with large losses, as in claims related to synthetic and new materials, and their impact on health and the environment. And finally, the seminar will also discuss Information Technology for the processing of information necessary for the management of insurance business.
The seminar was organised by UNCTAD in co-operation with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and the People´s Insurance Company of China, and was sponsored by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.