China insurance premiums are forecast to rise 24 percent to 700
billion yuan (96.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2007,Wei Yingning,
China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) vice chairman, said on
Tuesday.
Speaking at an international insurance conference in Beijing, he
said that by the end of 2007, the total assets of the country's
booming insurance sector reached 3 trillion yuan and aggregated
profits stood at 36 billion yuan.
Official statistics revealed the country now had 107 insurance
companies. These included 62 Chinese-funded and 45
foreign-funded.
However, China's insurance companies are faced with a talent
shortage amid the fast business expansion, the People's Insurance
Company of China (PICC) Asset Management Company said.
Experts held the talent shortage resulted from the expanded
business scale and the relatively low attractiveness of the field
in comparison to the more lucrative funds and securities
sectors.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2008)
