The clean up, initiated in April of this year by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), sought to help China's troublesome insurance industry better prepare for China's forthcoming entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), said Feng Xiaozeng, vice-chairman of the commission, at a conference Thursday.

In the last two months, domestic and foreign insurance companies operating in China and representative offices of foreign insurers were ordered to investigate their operating procedures and cease any irregular operations.

Various problems were discovered during the inspection, said Feng.

The most conspicuous irregularities included: Some companies setting up operational institutions or appointing senior management staff without the permission of the commission; the auto-insurance market and group life insurance market being plagued by various irregular behaviors; some insurers misleading their customers; and the insurance agent market's chaotic situation, he said.

"Problems have been found with both domestic and foreign firms,'' he added.

"Thanks to the clean-up campaign, China's insurance industry had been growing faster in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year.''

He said the growth figure would soon be released.

Wu Xiaoping, another vice-chairman with the commission, added at the conference that the industry had realized sustainable and fast growth in the first six months this year thanks to the clean-up.

"We must step up the restoration of order in China's insurance market to meet the WTO rules and regulations,'' he said, adding that there is still a gap between China's insurance regulations and the WTO stipulations.

The commission will continue its inspection of the market in the following months, particularly of some poor-performing areas and companies, Feng said.

(China Daily 07/15/2001)