China’s CIRC Categorises Insurance Business

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) recently promulgated the Administrative Measures on Classification of Business Scope of Insurance Companies ("Administrative Measures"), which came into force on 2 May 2013. The Administrative Measures provide for new rules in relation to market entry thresholds. The CIRC also starts to regulate insurers in the market by categorising different insurance business.

Categories of Insurance Business

Under the PRC Insurance Law, insurance business is generally categorised into property and casualty ("P&C") insurance and personal insurance. The Administrative Measures have further categorised insurance business into basic category ("Basic Business") and expanded category ("Expanded Business"), details of which are set out in the tables below.