In 2016Q2, the China insurance industry maintained its rapid growth momentum. More significant regulatory reforms have also been promulgated, such as replacing business tax with value added tax (VAT), the full implementation of the commercial motor insurance pricing reform, new regulations on short- and mid-term life insurance product development, and actuarial supervision. All of these new rules are expected to have a far-reaching impact on insurance product design, pricing and sales, as well as the management of insurance companies.

As another important milestone of C-ROSS implementation, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has mobilised all of its provincial-level bureau staff to carry out the first industry-wide assessment of insurers’ risk management capabilities, according to the C-ROSS pillar 2 requirements (SARMRA: Solvency Aligned Risk Management Requirements and Assessment). The assessment score (between July and October 2016) will result in an add-on or reduction in the minimum capital requirement (in the form of control risk capital). Insurers are required to publicly disclose the SARMRA assessment score and impact on solvency starting from 2016Q4.

The KPMG Actuarial Services team has analysed the Q2 solvency, operational performance and competitiveness data disclosed by all insurers and the CIRC, and summarised the key indicators, movements and trends. We hope our efforts will continue helping to transform data analytics in the China insurance industry.