BRI insurance seminar highlights sector's progress

The "Belt and Road Initiative" Overseas Personnel Insurance Coverage Seminar & China Foreign Aid Medical Teams Insurance Donation Ceremony was held in Beijing on Thursday.

More than 80 people held in-depth discussions about the establishment of a BRI insurance support system, risk-coverage needs and innovations in insurance products and services.

Government officials in attendance included Feng Yong, deputy director of the International Cooperation Department of the National Health Commission, Fu Qiang, deputy director of the Health Development Research Center of the commission, Jia Biao, deputy director of the Life Insurance Regulation Department of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and Fan Wenjie, deputy director of the Agency for International Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce.

Su Hengxuan, Party secretary and president of China Life Insurance and He Chunlei, deputy Party secretary and president of China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation — also known as China Re Group — and Party secretary and chairman of China Life Reinsurance, or China Re Life, shared their insights into the industry at the seminar.

Those in charge of local health commissions of the provincial regions despatching foreign aid medical teams, relevant officials at the Steering Group for the BRI, overseas risk service providers and BRI risk management experts were also among attendees.

During the event, China Life and China Re Life donated group insurance products named after the BRI to foreign aid medical teams sent by China. The insurance products are for a one-year term and have a total insurance amount of 100 million yuan ($14.22 million). They cover the death, disability and medical expenses caused by diseases, accidents and overseas emergency rescue services. Representatives from the local health commissions of Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces signed the first donation agreements with China Life.

Feng said foreign aid teams are of significance to people developing the BRI. The implementation of this program starts with the first batch of cooperating local national health commissions and foreign aid medical teams and has provided new advice for innovations in functions and services of national foreign aid medical treatment.

"In the future, we shall strengthen exploration in pilot implementation, conduct thorough research into local medical systems and policy and regulation environment, coordinate the utilization of domestic and overseas markets and resources, give full play to the power of government and non-governmental organizations, and adopt modern information platforms and means to provide effective service coverage," Feng said.

Jia spoke highly of the innovative BRI-related overseas personnel insurance coverage solution developed by China Life and China Re Life. CBIRC is calling on players in the insurance industry to actively respond to national strategies by providing high-quality insurance coverage. The solution not only fills the gap in overseas personnel health insurance coverage, but also enables these two companies to play a model leadership role as the national team and main force in the insurance industry. It opens a new chapter in cooperation between the insurance and the health industries.

Su pointed out that developing the BRI is a major strategic decision made by the Communist Party of China's Central Committee by assessing the situation, voluntarily responding to the profound changes in economic globalization and making overall arrangements for the domestic and international situations, in order to realize the great rejuvenation of the nation. Since the announcement of the initiative in 2013, China Life has taken part in the development of the BRI in various forms, including developing overseas insurance markets, participating in investment and financing, and yielding extraordinary achievements. The donation of China Life's special insurance products for the BRI to foreign aid teams represents comprehensive protection of foreign aid doctors overseas to fulfil China's missions. It is a specific embodiment of China Life putting its social responsibility before its business interests, and also a concrete action for China Life to meet CBIRC's requirements for supporting the BRI development with insurance.

He Chunlei stressed that China Re Group has always served the development of the BRI and has become one of the Chinese insurers providing the most compressive risk coverage for countries involved in the initiative. This time, China Re Group donated the BRI-related health insurance coverage solution combining insurance coverage, medical services and re-treatment platforms to foreign aid medical teams from China, signalling that China Re Group's "Chinese Cures Chinese" program has made another solid step forward.

In the future, China Re Group will continue to pursue its missions and strategic objectives by starting with the implementation of the "Belt and Road Initiative" overseas personnel insurance coverage program and providing more comprehensive insurance coverage and services for foreign aid medical teams from China and also the development of the BRI, He said.

As leaders in the Chinese insurance industry, China Life and China Re Life keep a close eye on the personal risks under the BRI and actively meet the needs for risk management. They are committed to building the BRI-related foreign aid doctor program into a sustainable cause to provide foreign aid doctors with best solutions, continuing to innovate and upgrade the BRI-related products to provide the best quality insurance coverage and services for expatriate government employees, overseas Chinese enterprises and the vast majority of business, culture and tourism practitioners, and establishing a model project for insurers to serve the country.