Impact of pandemics on the Chinese economy and insurance market

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Published on: 02 Sep 2020

The global economy is increasingly vulnerable to shocks such as pandemics as it becomes more integrated. Inter-developed travel and trade links raise the risk of significant impacts including substantial deaths and personal casualties as well as an abrupt economic downturn with long-lasting consequences. As we have already seen, the COVID-19 crisis has caused the global economy to fall into the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

Against this backdrop, Swiss Re Institute China Centre has conducted research to evaluate trends in infectious diseases, the effectiveness of China's health emergency response mechanisms, and the impact of the pandemic on the domestic insurance market.

China's insurance industry has demonstrated resilience, with premium growth returning quickly to its pre-pandemic trend rate. The transition to online distribution channels for insurance products has continued at pace. We expect the industry to benefit from the economic recovery due to a combination of strong regulatory support and rising consumer risk awareness. Meanwhile, we expect the experience of COVID-19 to further accelerate the digital and technological transformation of China's economy, and particularly medical services, healthcare systems and the insurance industry, over the coming years.

This study is available in Chinese only.

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