The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice directing the life insurance industry to deepen reforms of the individual agent marketing system, with a focus on raising the professionalism and career development of insurance sales personnel and strengthening insurers’ management and control of sales conduct and remuneration. The notice sets out 13 provisions across three areas. Life insurers must strengthen end-to-end management of sales personnel, including recruitment and selection, role-based training, conduct controls, and incentive and restraint mechanisms, and build longer-term organisational structures, promotion pathways, and commission and remuneration arrangements. Measures include supporting eligible company employees who voluntarily convert to insurance sales consultants (after obtaining relevant sales qualifications), and redesigning commission incentives to be oriented toward business quality and service quality through deferred payment mechanisms, alongside more balanced allocation rules across different types of sales personnel. On oversight, insurers must strengthen channel governance and internal accountability, deepen implementation of “reporting and implementation consistency” and expense budget controls to align actuarial assumed expenses, budgeted expenses, and assessed expenses, and establish monitoring and intervention tools, including mechanisms to pursue or claw back commission and remuneration where sales personnel misconduct causes economic loss; suitability management requirements are also reinforced. Regulatory requirements are to be applied consistently across channels, with professional insurance agencies and brokers expected to follow the notice, while the China Insurance Association is tasked with developing product classification and sales-personnel grading standards, and building an integrity information registration and use mechanism for sales personnel.
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission 2025-04-18
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issues notice to deepen life insurance personal marketing reforms with deferred commissions and tighter agent oversight
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a notice to reform the life insurance industry's agent marketing system, emphasizing professionalism and sales conduct management. It outlines 13 provisions on recruitment, training, conduct controls, and incentives, including deferred payment and balanced commissions. Insurers must enhance governance, accountability, and expense controls, with consistent regulatory application and the China Insurance Association developing standards and integrity mechanisms.