中国保険業における対外開放政策の展開

抄録

Although it is generally considered that the decision to adopt China’s reform and opening-up policy was taken in December 1978, and started substantially from 1979, I contend that the beginning of the opening up-policy in the insurance industry was as early as 1972. The People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) began to establish contact with several US insurance companies in the same year, and at that time, the Chinese government had decided to carry out business exchange with several sympathetic US insurance companies. Japanese insurance companies also revived business contact with China, and sealed a mutual claim agency agreement with PICC. In 1980, PICC set up a joint venture with an US insurance company abroad and the US insurance company planned to start an insurance business in China to exploit this vehicle, though at that time the Chinese government had no plans to admit it. It was only after Japanese and US insurance companies had set up their representative offices in Beijing that the Chinese government granted a business license to an US insurance company in Shanghai in 1992.
In the early 1990s, the Chinese government firmly recognized that the domestic insurance industry had a short history and weak foundations; therefore, the government had no plans to open its own insurance market. This was because the domestic insurance business, which comprised the core of the Chinese insurance market, had been suspended for twenty years from 1959 to 1979, and therefore totally lacked a business base. The priorities of the Chinese government were, first, to restart the business of PICC, and, second, to diversify domestic insurance companies.
The Tian’anmen incident of 1989 and the subsequent feud between China and the USA influenced the opening of the Chinese insurance market. The Chinese government gave a business license to the US American International Group in 1992 on a trial basis. This was a signal that the Chinese government would continue the opening-up policy and conduct the opening-up of the financial sector. China hoped this occasion would stimulate normalization of Sino-US relations.
When China opened its insurance market to foreigners, one characteristic was that the government promoted the participation of domestic insurers in the market in order to allow them to prepare fully before opening-up occurred. This characteristic can be observed both before the first opening in 1992, and before the second opening in 1995. Secondly, when the Chinese government granted licenses, countries of diplomatic importance to China received favorable treatment. On this latter point, it was particularly obvious that China adopted a pro-US foreign policy.
After China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, the Chinese government changed its insurance policy from one which placed emphasis on respecting the diplomatic balance, to a policy of granting licenses in order to secure the profits of domestic insurers.