Kathmandu. The Chinese life insurance market is expected to take a leap in the coming years as bancassurance strengthens. The Chinese life insurance market is projected to exceed $925 billion in the next five years.
According to GlobalData, China’s life insurance market will be worth $927.5 billion by 2030. By 2026, the market is expected to reach $679.5 billion. This will be an annual average of 7.9 percent.
China’s life insurance market is expected to grow by 11 percent in 2025, according to Geobaldata. This growth will be driven by distribution improvements, product changes followed by benchmark rate cuts, and continued digitalization. This has improved sales and claims handling.
Bancassurance has also strengthened since regulators removed caps on bank sharing in May 2024 and will account for about 60 per cent of new premiums in the first six months of 2025. As China’s population ages, so is the demand.
The National Bureau of Statistics expects people aged 60 and over to make up 22 per cent of the population in 2025 and those over 65 will reach about 15 per cent. This change is supporting whole life insurance. It is expected to account for 81 per cent of life insurance premiums in 2025.
High net worth customers are also actively using life insurance for estate and succession planning. China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) aims to expand long-term care insurance, boost rural pensions and strengthen fiscal resilience. These measures are expected to raise the retirement age from 60 to 63 from 2025 and support demand for life insurance in the medium term.
Insurance companies are also moving towards participating and global life products to adjust the lower benchmark rate of 1.99 percent for ordinary life products starting August 2025. Companies are revising their product portfolios and accelerating new launches to meet new pricing guidance.
Digital capabilities are constantly expanding as insurance companies adopt AI to improve underwriting, risk control, and customer engagement. With bancassurance and online channels growing at a rapid pace, Agent Ball is showing signs of stability under the new NFRA framework. These include standard licensing and revised commission rules.
According to senior insurance analyst Sworoop Kumar Sahu, adjusting the market to lower guaranteed interest rates can lead to fluctuations in new business in the short term. “The long-term outlook for China’s life insurance sector remains positive,” he said. Source: Insurance Asia
