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The growing numbers of expatriates living on the Chinese mainland have created a niche market for healthcare insurance service providers. While domestic insurers struggle to attract foreign policy buyers, their overseas rivals have been quick to take advantage of an attractive sales opportunity.
Goodhealth Worldwide Ltd., a UK-based medical insurer, said it is interested in taking on local partners to tap the market. The joint venture, if set up, will target expatriates "exclusively," said Ralph Tam, managing director of Good-health Worldwide (Asia Pacific) Ltd., during a recent visit to Shanghai.
"With China's entry into the World Trade Organization, more multinationals are moving into China and the population of foreigners is also swelling," he said.
"It is a necessity for us to serve our clients as well as possible."
The expatriate population in Beijing and Shanghai could double within two years, according to Goodhealth.
At present, each of the two cities has an estimated 60,000 foreigners.
China permitted both domestic and joint venture life insurers to sell foreign-currency denominated policies last October. However, most local operators have found it difficult to reach expatriates as their tendency is to shop for policies in their home country.
"The market for expatriate insurance is no doubt promising. But at the current stage, only a limited number of policies Chinese life insurers sell are attractive to foreigners," said an unidentified senior executive with Allianz Dazhong Life Insurance Co.
Short-term accident and healthcare policies are likely to become favored by expats whose jobs on the mainland are often temporary, said officials.
In addition, Chinese insurers lack a mature global network which can enable policy buyers to claim from anywhere in the world when a loss happens, Goodhealth's Tam said.
Goodhealth said it had about 500 expat individual clients on the Chinese mainland who had pur-chased medical insurance policies with the company in other countries.
(Shanghai Daily February 26, 2003)
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