China's lack of social security protection for private-sector workers will provide many opportunities for insurers, a mainland academic says.
Zhang Xiaoqun, a lecturer at Guangdong Minzhu College's management faculty, said he estimated that 30 to 40 per cent of city dwellers in China were not covered by any form of social insurance.
'Social security protection and insurance coverage are not prevalent in the country,' Mr Zhang said.
'That's why there is a large blank space for insurers to manoeuvre.' National requirements for workers to be covered by pension, unemployment insurance and medical insurance schemes have not been strictly enforced.
State-owned enterprises have generally followed the requirements, but many working for private enterprises have been left unprotected.
Mr Zhang said the number of people lacking coverage would rise as more workers transferred from state enterprises to the private sector.
'China's potential to develop its insurance market is huge,' Mr Zhang said. 'But many Chinese people are not ready to go for insurance as a kind of protection, not only because it is a new concept for them but also because the types of policies on offer are very limited and cannot cater for their needs.' Mr Zhang said there were only four or five types of life insurance policies on offer, partly because of the limited number of actuaries available.