A woman walks towards the headquarters of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) in Beijing, China, April 8, 2018. (PHOTO / IC)

BEIJING - China will grade insurance assets management companies (AMCs) and supervise them accordingly, said the country's banking and insurance regulator.

For companies with strong capabilities, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission will give priority to off-site oversight, whereas for companies with weak capabilities, the regulator will take prudent oversight with measures such as suspending business qualifications when necessary

At present, a total of 28 insurance AMCs have an asset management scale of nearly 15 trillion yuan (about US$2.32 trillion), according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

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The insurance AMCs are divided into four categories based on the regulatory rating results, which mainly focus on corporate governance and internal control, asset management capability, comprehensive risk management, transaction and operation guarantee and information disclosure, said the commission.

For companies with strong capabilities, the regulator will give priority to off-site oversight, whereas for companies with weak capabilities, the regulator will take prudent oversight with measures such as suspending business qualifications when necessary, it added.

China has stepped up the opening-up of the insurance sector as it has started soliciting public opinion on a revised regulation on foreign insurance companies, which will mainly clarify access conditions for foreign insurers and overseas financial institutions, fine-tune shareholder change and access requirements and scrap foreign ownership caps. 

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