According to information posted on the website of the National Financial Regulatory Administration on October 9, the administration recently revised and issued the "Regulations on the Management of Insurance Product Development by Property Insurance Companies" in order to further standardize the insurance product development practices of property insurers, protect the lawful rights and interests of policyholders, insureds and beneficiaries, continue to send a strong regulatory signal, improve the quality and efficiency of insurance product supply, and promote the high-quality development of the property insurance industry. The regulations will take effect on November 1, 2026.
It is understood that, in order to improve the regulatory system for insurance products and standardize the insurance product development practices of property insurers, the former China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Guidelines for the Management of Insurance Product Development by Property Insurance Companies," which took effect on January 1, 2017. As a core regulatory normative document for product supervision of property insurers, the guidelines refined specific product management requirements and effectively supplemented the departmental rule "Measures for the Administration of Insurance Clauses and Insurance Premium Rates of Property Insurance Companies."
In recent years, with the rapid development of China's property insurance market, the coverage of insurance products has continued to expand and the content of protection has continued to be enriched, but problems have also emerged, such as a high proportion of additional insurance products without detailed rules, the management and use of industry model clauses and pure risk loss ratios needing to be strengthened, and the standards for company product evaluation, revision and cancellation needing further refinement.
In order to further standardize the development and filing practices of property insurers' insurance products, refine and improve regulatory requirements, enhance the quality and efficiency of product supervision, strengthen the protection of insurance consumers' rights and interests, the guidelines were revised and improved and simultaneously renamed the "Regulations on the Management of Insurance Product Development by Property Insurance Companies," providing the industry with a clearly required and clearly standardized institutional basis for product development as an important measure for property insurance supervision and comprehensive governance of non-auto insurance, and an important tool for strong and strict supervision.
Specifically, the regulations consist of 8 chapters and 41 articles, including general provisions, basic requirements for product development, requirements for main insurance clauses and premium rates, requirements for additional insurance clauses and premium rates, product development management requirements, evaluation, revision and cancellation, supervision and administration, and supplementary provisions.
First, they consolidate the company's main responsibility, emphasizing that the company, as the development entity, bears corresponding legal responsibility for clauses and premium rates. Second, they revise and improve basic norms, clarifying the basic principles, overall requirements, attribute classification and insurance type classification of insurance product development, and listing eight categories of prohibited development situations. Third, they standardize the management of clauses and premium rates, setting requirements for main insurance and additional insurance respectively in terms of naming standards, clause framework and premium rate determination, and focusing on supplementing detailed requirements for additional insurance development. Fourth, they strengthen product development management, requiring companies to establish a product development management system, set up a product management committee led by the principal responsible person, and clarify full-process management requirements from planning and preparation, research and demonstration to internal review and approval and filing. Fifth, they strengthen full life-cycle product management, requiring evaluation of products on sale and timely revision or cancellation, and refining annual product report requirements. Sixth, they continue to strengthen product supervision, clarifying the responsibility determination of product management personnel at all levels of the company, requiring companies to establish an internal accountability mechanism, and continuously improving the intensity of product supervision and management.
As an important measure for property insurance supervision and comprehensive governance of non-auto insurance, the regulations adhere to a problem-oriented approach, focusing on problems existing in practice such as non-standard product development, unclear functional positioning of additional insurance, and unsound management processes, and continuously strengthen product supervision through supplementing and refining regulatory rules. Next, the National Financial Regulatory Administration will, in accordance with the requirements of the regulations, continue to strengthen product supervision of property insurers, effectively improve the professional and standardized level of insurance product development by property insurers, and better meet the insurance protection needs of the people and the economy and society.