The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has issued the Product Suitability Management Measures for Financial Institutions, creating a unified framework for suitability obligations when financial institutions issue or sell investment-type products with uncertain returns that may cause principal loss, and when they sell insurance products. The Measures are intended to shift consumer protection “upstream” by requiring institutions to sell suitable products through appropriate channels to suitable customers. The scope covers, among other products, wealth management products issued by banks and wealth management companies, asset management trust products, insurance asset management products, asset management products issued by financial asset investment companies, non-principal-protected structured deposits, and customer-facing bank derivatives, as well as property and life insurance products. Interbank market business follows separate rules issued by the State Council’s financial management departments, and sales of investment products issued by securities, fund and futures institutions follow the investor suitability rules applicable to securities and futures. The Measures set out baseline requirements to understand products and customers, conduct suitability matching, and ensure compliant marketing and sales, alongside product-specific rules. For investment-type products, institutions must grade product risk, assess investors’ risk tolerance, classify investors as professional or ordinary, and apply differentiated suitability management. For insurance products, the framework requires classification and grading, tiered management of insurance sales qualifications, and analysis of applicants’ needs and financial payment capacity. The Measures take effect from 1 February 2026. The Commission also set out follow-up work to guide industry self-regulatory organisations in developing suitability self-regulatory standards, strengthen supervisory guidance and oversight of implementation, and promote financial consumer risk awareness.
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission 2025-07-11
China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issues product suitability management rules for investment and insurance products effective 1 February 2026
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the Product Suitability Management Measures for Financial Institutions, creating a unified framework for suitability obligations when issuing or selling investment-type and insurance products. The Measures require institutions to match products with suitable customers, grade product risk, and assess investors' risk tolerance. Implementation begins on 1 February 2026, with follow-up work to enhance industry standards and consumer risk awareness.