Poultry farmers struggle to find insurance

The premium for Ping An's H7N9 bird flu policy is 50 yuan ($8.10), which offers 50,000 yuan's worth of cover for birds dying of bird flu and 20,000 yuan for medical treatment.

The coverage of Taiking's H7N9 flu policy is even lower, and offers policyholders just 5,000 yuan as a payment if they die from the flu.

Compared with life insurance policies tailored for H7N9, insurance policies for breeders are in short supply due to the high commercial risks involved.

China's major property and casualty insurers, such as PICC and China United Property Insurance Co Ltd, told China Daily they have no plans to launch policies targeting breeders.

"Without support from the government, it is unlikely for commercial insurers will take such huge risks," said an industry insider who declined to be named.

Losses of poultry-related enterprises nationwide have exceeded 10 billion yuan since the first case of H7N9 bird flu was discovered, according to the National Poultry Industry Association.

With all live poultry stalls shut down in some regions affected by H7N9 since early this month, poultry breeders, suppliers and sellers are facing tough times.