A Quantitative Analysis of Investment within China's Life Insurance Industry : A Dilemma for China's Insurance Regulators

Successful investment is the life-blood of any nation's life insurance industry. As such the industry relies heavily on well developed capital markets. In turn, a strong insurance industry can have a substantial and positive impact on capital market development. At the present time, China's insurance and capital markets are underdeveloped. Chinese insurance companies are legally restricted from participating in the nation's underdeveloped and highly speculative capital markets. On the one hand, the insurance industry needs to be freed from restrictive investment laws in order to diversify their investment portfolios. On the other hand, a simple liberalization of insurance laws governing investment will not allow for successful portfolio diversification because of underdeveloped and highly speculative capital markets. We examine this dilemma in detail and suggest a package of reforms designed to strengthen China's insurance industry and its capital markets. Our reform proposals are intended to encourage both investigation and debate (domestic and international) into reforms necessary for the development and strengthening of China's life insurance industry