China turns to private insurers to help unlock US$15.3 trillion of savings and avert a crisis in state pension system
- Mainland insurers are tasked to convert savings into investment in retirement products as state pension pot seen drying up by 2035
- Hong Kong insurance sector eyes cross-border Connect scheme to help grease policy sales to mainlanders in the city
10:42
China 2020 census records slowest population growth in decades
This is the 11th in a series of stories about China’s once-a-decade census, which was conducted in 2020. The world’s most populous nation released its national demographic data on May 11, and the figures will have far-reaching social policy and economic implications.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on Saturday announced a pilot programme to foster endowment plans offering stable returns over 10 years post retirement, making it part of the third pillar in China’s pension system, on top of state-run schemes and corporate annuities.
The one-year trial will take place from June 1 in the eastern province of Zhejiang and the city of Chongqing, according to the CBIRC statement. Six companies will participate in the programme, namely China Life Insurance, People’s Life Insurance, Taiping Life Insurance, China Pacific Life Insurance, Taikang Life Insurance and Xinhua Life Insurance.
02:33
China birth rate at 60-year low as new census shows population grew slightly to 1.412 billion
People aged 60 or above accounted for 18.7 per cent of the nation’s population, according to a once-a-decade census published on May 13. That is an increase from 13.3 per cent in the 2010 census as the working- age population, those from 15 to 59 years, shrank by 5 per cent.
