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Sep 2003 China is planning to open its health insurance market to foreign investors by the end of 2003. This measure is expected to enhance competition. The Chinese health insurance market has been in full expansion since the appearance of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which sprang an avalanche of new products on the market. Health insurance premiums represent only about 4 % of the total market turnover.
Reminder: The Chinese Commission for Insurance Regulation (CIRC) had initially planned to privatize the market in December 2004, three years after China's entry in the World Trade Organization. Today 36 foreign insurance companies operate on the Chinese market.