The insurance industry has been actively supporting the private economy by providing comprehensive risk protection and financial support. In Ningbo, export credit insurance has helped small and micro enterprises overcome the challenge of “not daring to accept orders.” In Shenzhen, the “insurance + service” model offers intellectual property risk solutions for science and technology innovation enterprises. In Beijing, science and technology innovation funds invested by insurance funds provide financial support for these enterprises. These initiatives highlight the insurance industry’s role in promoting the high-quality development of the private economy.
Enriching the Product System
The insurance industry is continuously innovating its product offerings to meet the diverse needs of private enterprises and their employees. For example, China Life Insurance has launched customized products like the “Yuanfubao” accident insurance combination product for small, medium, and micro enterprise customers. Dadi Insurance offers exclusive products such as “Auto Repair Insurance,” “Decoration Insurance,” and “Tongue Tip Insurance,” catering to specific industries. PICC Property & Casualty Company Limited provides export-specific contract credit insurance, logistics service export credit insurance, and small and micro enterprise export credit insurance to protect foreign trade enterprises.
These innovations reflect the industry’s efforts to address the varied insurance demands of the private economy across different sectors. According to Wang Guojun, a professor from the School of Insurance at the University of International Business and Economics, the insurance industry’s role in helping the private economy manage risks and safeguard development is crucial for both economic and social progress and the industry’s own growth.
Supporting Technological Innovation
Private enterprises are a vital force in technological innovation, but this process involves significant investment, long cycles, and complex risks. The insurance industry is building a multi-dimensional risk protection system to cover the entire life cycle of science and technology innovation enterprises. For instance, China Life Property & Casualty Insurance Company has established nearly 70 technology insurance branches and specialized teams, focusing on developing “three-first” types of insurance (first set of technical equipment, first batch of new materials, and first version of high-end software). It is also actively cultivating cyber security and intellectual property insurance, enhancing the technology insurance product system.
Guoren Insurance has innovatively established an intellectual property risk assessment model and adopted the “insurance + service” model to provide intellectual property risk solutions for science and technology innovation enterprises. It has also explored a risk compensation mechanism for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements with the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Bureau.
The business scale related to technology insurance has grown steadily. Li Yunze, director of the State Financial Regulatory Commission, noted that the growth rate of loans to high-tech enterprises is nearly three times the average growth rate of all loans, with technology insurance providing protection exceeding 2 trillion yuan. The commission has launched two insurance compensation pilot programs for the first batch of major technical equipment and the first application of key new materials, providing risk coverage of over 1 trillion yuan.
Li Yunze emphasized the need to accelerate the formulation of opinions on the high-quality development of science and technology insurance, support major scientific and technological breakthroughs through co-insurance communities, and promote the development of insurance products in emerging fields such as robots and low-altitude aircraft.
Providing Financial Support
Insurance funds, with their long-term and large-scale nature, can provide stable financial support to the private economy. Insurance companies offer financial “lifelines” to private enterprises through equity investment, bond investment, and other means, helping to alleviate financing difficulties. For example, China Life Asset Management initiated the “China Life – Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Equity Investment Plan” with a scale of 5 billion yuan, investing in the Beijing Science and Technology Innovation Fund and covering multiple fields such as new-generation information technology, medical and health care, and intelligent manufacturing. It has incubated and cultivated numerous high-quality technology enterprises, covering over 1,200 private enterprises.
The People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) has initiated health and elderly care funds, science and technology innovation funds, and modern industrial system funds with a combined scale of over 20 billion yuan to support private enterprises in related fields. Many insurance companies have also strengthened cooperation with the government, banks, and other parties, establishing a “government-bank-insurance” cooperation model. By setting up risk compensation fund pools, providing premium (guarantee fee) subsidies, and offering interest rate discounts, they guide financial institutions to allocate resources towards private enterprises.
Li Yunze highlighted that in the first four months of this year, the banking and insurance industries provided approximately 17 trillion yuan in new financing for the real economy through various means such as loans and bonds. The Financial Regulatory Authority will introduce a package of policies to support financing for small and micro enterprises and private enterprises, deepen the financing coordination mechanism, and help stabilize enterprises and the economy.
Future Outlook
Zhu Hualei, a senior investment advisor at Jufeng Investment Consulting, suggested that the insurance industry can take multiple measures to further serve the private economy. These include innovating the insurance product system, optimizing service models, strengthening financing support, deepening risk management and reduction services, and building a coordinated development ecosystem.
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