Opening up insurance sector
The German insurer Allianz has been given permission to establish the first wholly-owned insurance holding company in the country, the banking and insurance regulator said in a statement on Sunday. Over the next decade, China will lead growth in the global insurance market, with its insurance premium scale expected to increase by 14 percent annually according to Allianz, which expects to establish the Allianz (China) Insurance Holding Company Limited in Shanghai in 2019.
Apart from Allianz, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission disclosed on Sunday that it has approved 10 market entry applications submitted by foreign and joint-venture banking and insurance companies. And it is believed that more foreign companies will follow suit.
The announcement marks another move by China to open its financial market to foreign capital.
The 2018 version of the negative list for foreign capital vows to eliminate all restrictions on the share of foreign capital in the financial sector by 2021.
The opening up of the financial and insurance industries, and the widening of entry into other sectors will create chain reactions in the Chinese market, where national enterprises will face tougher competition from world-class companies, forcing them to enhance their services. Chinese consumers will undoubtedly have more options and thus benefit from the process.
China will also open up almost all sectors of its manufacturing industries to foreign players, and increase access to agriculture, and the natural resources and energy industries, where foreign businesses will enjoy the same market entry treatment as their Chinese counterparts.
The market needs competition in all fields, in order for good money to expel bad money, and to fundamentally improve the quality of supply in the Chinese market. As far as consumers are concerned, diversified investment in the capital sector and diversified competition among market players have given Chinese consumers more choice.
But more importantly, under the circumstance of globalization encountering unilateralism, and trade under attack from protectionism, China continues to relax market access, and is opening up core, key and sensitive areas to foreign capital.
This demonstrates China’s confidence in expanding its market access, reflects China’s determination to be a standard-bearer for free trade and multilateralism.
— BEIJING YOUTH DAILY