China’s extreme weather raises alarm about the country’s disaster insurance gaps
- China’s insurers need to catch up, particularly in addressing emerging risks associated with climate change, insurance industry specialists say

Extreme weather triggered is setting off alarm bells in China’s insurance sector, the world’s second largest, which urgently needs more financial tools to mitigate risks from the economic damage wreaked by the growing incidents of droughts, floods and landslides across the country.
“There are areas where China’s insurers need to catch up, particularly in addressing emerging risks associated with climate change,” Peggy Ding, placement leader at Marsh China, told the Post last week.
As more frequent extreme weather events, induced by climate change, are expected to become the “new norm”, insurers need to develop innovative insurance products that can effectively respond to these risks, she said.

This is a timely reminder as a series of natural disasters hit China, where only around 10 per cent of the losses from natural disasters are covered by insurance, compared to the global average of 40 per cent, according to data from National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA).
