The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, jointly with the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, has issued a package of measures to speed the buildout of the Shanghai International Reinsurance Center and support higher-quality development of China’s reinsurance market. The eight measures are designed to concentrate market participants and risk management activity in the Lingang New Area of the China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, strengthen market infrastructure, expand underwriting and capital capacity, deepen opening-up and cross-border cooperation, and tighten supervisory arrangements. On market structure and infrastructure, the measures encourage large enterprises to centralize management of their risk protection needs in Lingang and support closer cooperation among insurance institutions to build a fuller reinsurance ecosystem. Domestic insurance institutions will be pushed to use the reinsurance registration and trading center for unified registration of reinsurance contracts, claims and related information, while the center is expected to improve data standards, data governance, security controls and digital trading functions, including standardized contracts and billing. The package also supports overseas financial institutions conducting referral business through the center. On capacity and openness, reinsurers are supported in raising capital and issuing capital replenishment instruments, with underwriting capacity to be directed toward major national projects and strategic emerging industries. The measures also back broader risk-dispersal channels for catastrophe and other special risks, allow insurance institutions to open dedicated accounts in Lingang and use existing cross-border investment facilitation policies, and call for updated operating guidance on outbound reinsurance data transfers. Cross-border business development is paired with supervisory steps, including stronger internal control and compliance expectations for insurers, improved prudential rules for reinsurance, a possible reinsurance-specific monitoring framework in Shanghai, and exploration of a reinsurance arbitration mechanism in Lingang.
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission2026-07-07
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and Shanghai Municipal People's Government issue measures to accelerate the Shanghai International Reinsurance Center
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government issued eight measures to accelerate the Shanghai International Reinsurance Center. The package focuses on concentrating reinsurance activity in Lingang, expanding unified registration and digital trading infrastructure, increasing capital and underwriting capacity, and supporting cross-border business and data flows. It also tightens supervision through stronger internal control expectations, improved prudential rules and work on a reinsurance risk monitoring framework.