China Continent Insurance expands animal coverage amid booming pet economy expected to reach US$73 billion by 2023

Name: Chinese pet detective helps reunite lost furry friends with owners
Uploaded: 2021-07-18T02:30:15.000Z
Duration: 2 min 26 s
Description: Chinese pet detective helps reunite lost furry friends with owners

China Continent Insurance is increasing pet coverage to include accidents and higher limits, pouring money into the market as new technologies help reduce fraud

China’s pet economy is projected to double from 2019 to 2023 as people aged 60 and over approach a fifth of China’s total population and more people live alone

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A resident leaves home with her pet cat at a community in the Xiling District of Yichang City, central China's Hubei province, on March 20, 2020. As the country’s population gets older and more people choose not to have children or to live alone, pets are an increasingly popular option for companionship at home. Photo: Xinhua

Iris Ouyang

Published: 10:30am, 18 Jul 2021Updated: 8:15pm, 18 Jul 2021

China Continent Insurance (CCI) has been rapidly expanding its pet insurance coverage options this year amid a booming pet economy, aided by an ageing population, more people living alone, and new technologies that reduce fraud.

Multiple product upgrades and an integrated pet insurance product released this year by CCI, a unit under state-owned China Reinsurance Group, offer higher limits for a wider scope of incidents related to pets. With help from fintech giant Ant Group, an affiliate of South China Morning Post owner Alibaba Group Holding, the company’s monthly pet insurance revenue surpassed 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million), said Li Shengpeng, head of CCI’s pet insurance branch.

“There’s no giant company in the pet economy yet, and the industry still has a lot of potential for all players,” Li said. “People in the industry are thinking about how to connect all the dots of different segments of the pet economy, and health care is a key [component] that may achieve that.”

Some companies have been trying to attract more customers by offering insurance coverage for more of the pet services and products they already offer, according to Li. The government and hospitals, for example, are now discussing with insurance companies plans that cover pet cremation to meet tighter oversight of animals that have died during the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. This would be in addition to coverage for health care costs and pet-related damages or injuries that may require compensation to another party.

Keeping furry friends at home has become a more appealing option in China in recent years as the population ages and more people are either living alone or choosing not to have children. China’s pet economy is projected to reach 472.3 billion yuan (US$73 billion) by 2023, double what it was in 2019, according to Qianzhan Industry Research Institute.

“As the population ages and the number of individuals living alone rises, the emotional needs for having a pet are rapidly increasing,” said a group of Industrial Securities analysts in a July 6 report. “As the older population further expands, the pet economy will continue to grow.”

People aged 60 and older account for 18.7 per cent of China’s total population, or 264 million people, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in May.

02:26

Chinese pet detective helps reunite lost furry friends with owners

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