China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC)
| Chair: | Wu Dingfu [Biography of Wu Dingfu] |
| Vice Chairs: |
Li Kemu Wei Yingning Zhou Yanli Yang Mingsheng |
| Address: | 15 Jinrong Dajie, Xicheng Qu, Beijing 100140 |
| Telephone: | 86-10-6628-6688 |
| Fascimile: | 86-10-6601-8871 |
| Website: | www.circ.gov.cn |
| Departments: | General Office; Development and Reform; Policy Research; Finance and Accounting; Property Insurance Regulation; Personal Insurance; Insurance Intermediaries Regulation; Insurance Fund Management Regulation; International Affairs; Legal Affairs; Statistics and Information; Local Offices Administration; Personnel and Education; Discipline Supervision; CCP Publicity Office |
| CIRC Structure Chart [pdf] | |
Responsibilities
CIRC is the regulator responsible for approving or denying business licenses to foreign entrants to the domestic insurance market, approving new branch applications for existing foreign insurers in China, and approving the administration and sale of new insurance products and services. CIRC functions as an administrator of the domestic insurance market and regulates the means by which insurance products can be financed, constructed, marketed, and sold. Specifically, CIRC
- Researches and drafts policies, regulations, investment and development strategies, and industrial plans for the insurance sector, including those pertaining to supervision and management of the sector;
- Examines and approves the establishment of foreign and domestic insurance companies and their branches, including joint venture insurance companies and representative offices and wholly foreign-owned enterprises of overseas insurance institutions;
- Establishes basic qualification standards for insurance-sector employees including standards for the supervision of senior managerial staff and the appointment of senior management of PRC insurance firms;
- Handles complaints from and regarding the insurance sector; and
- Sets accounting rules and conducts audits.
CIRC has also worked to establish branch supervisory organizations in 30 of China's 31 provincial-level administrative regions (excluding Tibet). The branch offices are responsible for supervising local insurance operations to ensure compliance with CIRC regulations and help prevent pyramid schemes and other questionable practices.
Priorities
CIRC is principally concerned with keeping the domestic insurance industry healthy and closely monitoring potential risks for the sector's assets. In 2008, CIRC issued various regulations on corporate governance and risk management and has worked hard to maintain stability in the domestic market. CIRC's stated priorities for 2008, in line with 2007's Chinese Communist Party Congress, are intended to build on the State Council's 2006 circular, Selected Ideas on Reform and Development of the Insurance Industry. In the near term, CIRC aims to
- Improve the structure of the insurance market and insurance products and create preferential policies for certain regions;
- Improve supervision and management of solvency, corporate governance, market actions, and capital utilization to protect beneficiaries;
- Develop and promote agricultural, rural, low-premium, liability, and commercial pension and health insurance products;
- Improve internal company management and operating mechanisms and increase cooperation on international insurance supervision; and
- Enhance statistical and information-gathering systems, laws and regulations, research, consumer education, and insurance associations and organizations.
Return to PART VI: State Council Directly Administered Offices