China Pushes for Increased Insurance Regulations

China’s banking and insurance watchdog is looking to stiffen its oversight of insurance companies to limit financial risks and put out a draft guideline to achieve that goal as the country looks to recover from its COVID-19 pandemic-triggered economic struggles, according to Reuters.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) is soliciting public input on the draft regulations, which would amend a 2010 policy. Among the proposed changes are requiring insurance group companies to build a clear and transparent shareholding structure and set up mechanisms to alert potential contagious risks, according to a statement on CBIRC’s website.

CBIRC’s recommendation also includes asking insurance companies to improve the oversight of their non-insurance subsidiaries and make disclosures accordingly.

The new regulations would implement a “thorough, continuous and penetrating supervision” over insurance group companies, the CBIRC statement says.

China has 12 insurance group companies, including Ping An Insurance Group Co and Dajia Insurance Group Co., formerly Anbang Insurance Group.

Related: China Regulators Cracking Down on Peer-to-Peer Sharing Economy

Of course, insurance isn’t the only area that has Chinese regulators on alert. China’s State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) said on Monday (Aug. 30) that it plans to tighten its supervision over the country’s peer-to-peer (P2P) sharing economy, which could grow 10 percent every year for the next five years.

Bikes and mobile phone chargers are among the most popular shared products in China. SAMR will regulate phone charger platforms and consider imposing fines on food delivery company Meituan for its acquisition of the bike-sharing startup Mobike.

Didi Global also offers social ridesharing and bikesharing to more than 550 million Chinese users, and has its own autonomous driving division.

China also announced tighter regulations that will limit how long minors can play video games this week.

Also read: China’s New Digital Double Standard Would Hobble Big Tech While Helping Itself To Data

A new data and consumer privacy law will take effect in China in November, likely making it tougher than ever for Big Tech firms (especially U.S. companies) to compete there.

The Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) has some key differences from other regulations that govern data collection and transmission, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). China is reportedly still going to have a significant reach into consumers’ private information.