China's online property insurance premiums drop mildly

BEIJING - China's online property insurance premiums dropped mildly in 2017 due to shrinking auto insurance business, official data have showed.

Premium income from online property insurance sales decreased 1.75 percent from the 2016 level to 49.35 billion yuan (about $7.8 billion) last year, according to the Insurance Association of China.

Auto insurance premiums, which accounted for 62.25 percent of the total, declined 23 percent year on year to 30.72 billion yuan. However, premiums from non-auto insurance sales online surged 80.25 percent in 2017.

Return shipping insurance and travel accident insurance were among the most popular property insurance products last year, while more consumers bought insurance products via mobile terminals such as apps and third-party platforms, rather than insurers' official websites.

Online-only insurance companies are taking a larger share of the property insurance market, as 18.97 percent of the total income from premiums was earned by the country's four online-only insurers, 10.16 percentage points higher than a year ago. The online-only insurers include ZhongAn Online, which is backed by Alibaba's Jack Ma.

Liu Yang, an official with the association, said China's demand for online non-auto insurance will continue to rise amid expanding online shopping and growing insurance awareness among the Chinese people.