The Ministry of Education and Ping An Insurance (Group) Company
of China signed a co-operative agreement yesterday in Beijing, to
provide life insurance for Chinese Government-funded foreign
students studying in China.
For the next five years, the ministry will help these students
apply for health, accident, hospitalization and medical insurance,
with total coverage of more than 60,000 yuan (US$7,200), according
to the agreement.
The move is aimed at giving foreign students studying in China a
more secure environment. Self-supported foreign students can also
apply for life insurance from Ping An Insurance Company.
Up to now, the number of life insurance applications from
foreign students has been very small, sources from the company
said.
Life insurance will now be made obligatory for foreign students
studying in China, to safeguard their health while they are in the
country, according to the ministry.
During the critical period from April to June this year when the
country was in the midst of the SARS epidemic, the ministry and the
company jointly listed SARS coverage as an important aspect of life
insurance for foreign students in the country.
Since it received its first group of 33 students from Eastern
Europe in 1950, China has hosted a total of 530,000 students from
170 countries and regions. In 2002 alone, the country received
85,000 foreign students, up 42 per cent from the figure for
2001.
(China Daily September 9, 2002)