China Re P&C: P&C insurers shift from scale to profitability, non-auto share rises to 46.4%

The extensive, "scale-over-profit" development model in China's domestic property insurance industry has been fundamentally reversed, with the sector now demonstrating sound high-quality growth. Global reinsurance premium rates remain adequate.

On September 23, the 2026 China Property Reinsurance Market Seminar was held under the theme "Integrating Direct and Reinsurance to Drive Innovation, Win-Win in the '15th Five-Year' Transformation." The seminar reviewed the development of the property insurance industry during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period (2021–2025) and outlined prospects for the "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026–2030), concluding that the industry has broad development prospects, with technology insurance and energy & power insurance expected to achieve rapid growth.

Extensive "Scale-Over-Profit" Development Fundamentally Reversed

According to data, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the average annual compound growth rate of premiums in China's property insurance industry was 5.3%, a slowdown compared to the "13th Five-Year Plan" period (2016–2020). However, the industry's overall combined ratio and expense ratio declined significantly, marking a fundamental reversal of the extensive "scale-over-profit" development model.

China Re Property Insurance (CRePI) noted that during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the property insurance industry achieved overall underwriting profitability, reversing the underwriting losses seen during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period.

This overall underwriting profitability was largely driven by improved performance in auto insurance. Data shows that, in addition to underwriting profits from auto insurance among leading insurers, small and medium-sized insurers also achieved overall underwriting profitability in their auto insurance businesses. Meanwhile, the structure of auto insurance claims and expenses improved, with expense ratios declining and loss ratios rising.

In terms of business structure, the share of non-auto insurance premiums has increased year by year. In 2025, non-auto insurance accounted for 46.4% of total premiums, up more than 7 percentage points from 39.3% in 2020. Within non-auto insurance, underwriting performance has varied across different lines in recent years:

• Agricultural insurance, accident insurance, and health insurance achieved underwriting profits
• Liability insurance, corporate property & engineering insurance, credit & guarantee insurance, and marine cargo & special risk insurance experienced underwriting losses in some years

In China's property reinsurance market, premiums ceded to reinsurance have maintained steady growth. In 2025, the reinsurance cession ratios for major non-auto lines—including property & engineering insurance, marine insurance, liability insurance, credit insurance, and health insurance—increased. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the property reinsurance cession ratio exceeded 10%, continuing to rise from the "13th Five-Year Plan" period.

At the same time, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, regulators guided the insurance and reinsurance industries to play the role of "two devices and three networks" (risk prevention and mitigation mechanisms). Insurance services shifted from "post-event compensation" to "pre-event prevention," balancing coverage expansion with risk reduction, effectively serving the development of the real economy.

Wang Simiao, Chief Officer of the China Insurance Association, stated that in recent years, China's property insurance industry has maintained a steady development trend. Since the release of the new "National Ten Articles," the industry's direction of returning to the core function of risk protection has become clearer, and the quality and efficiency of serving the real economy and people's livelihoods have continuously improved.

Super El Niño Intensifies Loss Expectations

Regarding risk trends, CRePI analyzed that since 2026, losses from typhoons and geological disasters have increased, and safety accidents in certain regions and industries have occurred frequently, putting pressure on industry underwriting profits.

Looking ahead, the property insurance industry must continuously monitor:

• Climate risks caused by super El Niño events
• Geopolitical risks arising from geo-economic confrontations
• Systemic risks from the explosive development of AI applications

Due to expectations of higher risk losses, reinsurance companies are expected to continue strengthening risk controls to address potential loss volatility.

In the international reinsurance market, CRePI noted that in 2026, the global reinsurance market continues to grow. Affected by factors such as the U.S.-Iran conflict and super El Niño events, the downward trend in reinsurance premium rates varies across lines but remains generally adequate.

Broad Prospects for Property Insurance in the "15th Five-Year Plan" Period

As the industry enters the first year of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the development trends for the next five years were a key focus of the seminar.

CRePI believes that the property insurance industry has broad development prospects during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. National economic and social development plans (including industrial plans, special plans, and regional plans) point to new directions for innovative development in the property insurance industry. Meanwhile, comprehensive governance of non-auto insurance is driving the establishment of a standardized, professional, and refined market system, initiating a new cycle of high-quality development. Different insurers will focus on their resource endowments, align with industrial and regional development plans, and enter a new phase of differentiated business operations.

CRePI expects that, guided by the "15th Five-Year Plan," the following insurance lines are likely to see rapid growth:

• Technology insurance
• Energy & power insurance
• Policy-based catastrophe insurance
• Shipping insurance
• Health insurance
• Agricultural insurance and agriculture-related insurance

Key operational priorities for major insurance lines include:

• Auto insurance: Intelligent connected new energy vehicles will be a key focus, with new energy vehicle insurance remaining an important growth engine
• Agricultural and agriculture-related insurance: A multi-tiered agricultural insurance system will be the priority
• Corporate property and engineering insurance: The "six networks" of modern infrastructure will be the operational focus

CRePI projects that by the end of the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, annual premiums of property insurance companies will exceed RMB 2 trillion, with non-auto insurance premiums accounting for more than half. At the same time, as regulators continue to promote comprehensive governance of non-auto insurance, the combined ratio for non-auto insurance is expected to fall below 100%.

Wang Zhongyao, General Manager of CRePI, stated that looking toward the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the role of insurance and reinsurance needs to proactively shift from "capital protection" to "technology service." The industry's positioning needs to actively transform from "risk undertaker" to "value creator" embedded in national governance and serving the economy and people's livelihoods.

Zhu Xiaoyun, President of China Reinsurance (Group) Corporation, said that the next decade represents an important strategic opportunity for China's insurance and reinsurance industries to transform, upgrade, and achieve high-quality development. Direct insurers and reinsurers, as core entities of the risk protection system, should build a closer "risk-sharing, technology-co-developing, value-co-creating" direct-reinsurance relationship—promoting development through integration, enhancing momentum through innovation, and pooling strength through platforms—to embark on a new journey of high-quality development.