Temperatures in most coastal regions in eastern and southern China, and major regions in Xinjiang have already shot up to 32 degrees, according to the National Meteorological Centre.

In northern China’s metropolis Tianjin and the provinces of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan, authorities issued “orange” high temperature warnings as rising temperatures there were set to surpass 40 degrees by Friday.

As this year’s first heatwave seems to mark the point at which summer has finally arrived, one mainland online insurance company is seeking to profit from the scorching weather.

Jointly backed by China’s top e-commerce firm Alibaba, internet giant Tencent and leading insurer Ping An Insurance, the company offers compensation to policy holders if the number of days with temperatures of 37 degrees or above in the client’s city surpasses a certain threshold, which varies depending on the city, between June 21 and August 23.

The company says the premium aims to compensate for the extra living costs borne by the public in scorching hot weather.

The insurance is sold for 10 yuan (HK$12.60) for each policy ‘unit’, and customers may buy up to 99 units as they wish. For each policy unit, they will receive a premium payout of five yuan for each day experiencing high temperatures that surpasses the minimum requirement of days. This requirement varies largely among the cities throughout the country.

For the central metropolis Chongqing, known for its unbearably hot summer weather, temperatures must exceed 37 degrees for 28 days out of a period of roughly two months in order for the insurers to pay out. However, for some cities in China’s chilly northeast, clients can benefit from a premium paid out for any day that experiences a high temperature.

But some analysts say the temperature requirements of the policy may be hard to meet, according to historical weather data.

So far data on Taobao.com shows that 20,000 insurance policy units have been sold as of Wednesday noon.