IUMI president Dieter Berg (third from left) and secretary general Lars Lange welcome China delegates.
IUMI receives China boost as Shanghai Institute of Marine Insurance becomes new member association
By James Brewer
In a strengthening of links with the Chinese insurance market, the International Union of Marine Insurance has formally welcomed into membership the Shanghai Institute of Marine Insurance. The institute, described as China’s first professional marine insurance association, sent five delegates to the 2015 IUMI conference in Berlin.
The move followed the first IUMI conference on Chinese territory a year earlier, in Hong Kong.
Lars Lange.
Lars Lange, IUMI secretary general, said: “IUMI views China, as well as the whole Asia region, as extremely important for the future of marine insurance and expects significant growth in this market.”
In 2014, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission changed its rules to grant the institute the right to approve new marine insurance products. It said it would use the Shanghai Free Trade Zone as a testing ground for developing the national marine insurance industry in providing for a an enhanced range of services.
The institute was established under the regulatory commission in December 2013, with membership comprising domestic companies including the People’s Insurance Company of China, China Pacific Property Insurance Co and Ping An Insurance, and foreign entities including Lloyd’s, Sumitomo Mitsui, AIG Direct, Chubb and Allianz.
The institute has a brief to represent all national and international matters with regard to marine insurance.
The institute submitted its application to join IUMI as a member association, in July 2015. It replaces the previous representative IUMI member for China, the China Pacific Property Insurance Co.
According to the China Insurance Yearbook, marine premium in the Chinese market in 2012 was approaching $2.5bn, a small percentage of total non-life premiums estimated to be $100bn.
