On November 20, 2016,Insurance Association of China and FosunGroup co-hostedthe 2016 Global InsurTech Innovation Forum at the Shangri-La Hotel, Pudong, Shanghai. Over 400 people attended the Forum. Participants included government officials, representatives of insurance and re-insurance companies, CEOs and entrepreneurs of InsurTech companies, experts and scholarsof diverse fields. They exchanged views on global InsurTech innovation.Keynote speakersincludedZhou Yanli, former Vice Chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC); Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Zheng Yang, Head of Shanghai Municipal Financial Service Office;Pei Guang, Head of CIRC, Shanghai Bureau; Zhu Jinyuan, Chairman of Insurance Association of China; Luo Sheng, DeputyHead of Department of Development and Reform at CIRC; Zeng Yujin, Chairmanof Shanghai Insurance Exchange; Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun Group; Kang Lan, Vice President of Fosun Group; Jing Xiandong, CEO of Ant Financial; and Ren Huichuan, President of Ping An Insurance Company of China.

In his opening speech, Zhou Yanli, former Vice Chairmanof CIRC, said “China’s Insurtech is evolving into its version 3.0 which is centered on innovation in business model. In the future, China’s Insurtech may show four characteristics: 1, An even brighter prospect for the industry; 2, The upgrading of the industry driven by innovation; 3, Enhanced security; 4, Cross-industry cooperation is poised to take place.”

Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), said thatthe market penetration of InsurTech in the United States was not as high as that in Chinabecause the differences between the federal laws and regulationsof different states made it difficult to make the overall planning. As a result, many start-ups face resistance from traditional insurance companies.Ms. Bair said she would like to see better opportunities for innovation in China in the future, and she hoped that the United States could catch up. Ms. Bair also added, “I have a vision of the development of China’s internet-related insurance in which many innovations will complement the conventional system for insurance. There is no conflict between the conventional and the innovated system. Such innovations will enable the insurance firm to provide services to customers at a lower cost and a more convenient way. We hope to see better innovations in China’s insurance industry. I think some new companies which specialize in internet licensing will emerge and they will set their sights on entering the US market.”

Zhu Jinyuan, Chairmanof Insurance Association of China,noted at the Forum thattechnological changesin recent years had been directly subvertingingrained patterns and traditional business formats in the insurance industry. Big Data, cloud computing, mobile internet, and other underlying technologieshave provided strong support for the development of InsurTech. Mr. Zhu said thatblockchain, the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), gene diagnosis and treatment technology and other emerging technologieswill revolutionize the insurance industry. Consumer insurance has boomed on the back of the expansion of network platforms,and network platform has added impetus to the traditionalmutualinsurance business.The flourishing of innovation hastruly promoted cross-industry integration of market players.

Guo Guangchang, Chairman of Fosun Group,shared Fosun’s thoughts on globalization and “Insurance + Innovation”. He noted that aninsurance company must be driven by two “wheels”,namely the “asset-side” and “liability-side” wheels and that both the “wheels” must be strong. Mr. Guo said that if one wheel was not strong, then, just like flying a plane, you might be able to fly but you could not land. He said that it would be dangerous if the “asset-side” and “liability-side” were unbalanced. Fosun’s focus inthe future was to keep a balance between liabilities and assets.

Kang Lan, Vice President of Fosun Group,President of Fosun insurance business, said that Fosun had taken roots in China with a global vision and adopted an innovative approach to investment, pressing ahead with its “Insurance +” strategy with Fosun’s characteristics. Fosun believed that its insurance business should meet consumer needs by innovating in every section of the value chain of the insurance industry with technology, and by increasing the efficiency and profitability of the company’s operations through enhanced business management.  As to its investment, Fosun will seek out “unicorns” for both vertical and horizontal integration. Fosun has now formed a comprehensive portfolio of investments in the insurance sector all over the world, and will build on it by enhancing its global insurance innovation capabilities with a view to contributing to the innovation and development of China's insurance industry.

The participants in the forum exchanges their ideas with each other and made recommendations on the future development of InsurTech from different perspectives, with special in-depth analyses of such aspects as scenario orientation, Big Data applications, product innovation, trading market and integration along the value chain of the insurance industry. The participants held discussions about six hot topics in InsurTech:

• AXA Global Direct’s Xavier Veyry, SCORGlobal Life’s Paolo De Martin, and Swiss Re’s Natt Wattanaumphaipong shared experiences of innovation in life insurance and non-life insurance on the internet;
• Scott Stephenson, Chairman of one of America’s most famous industry data analytics groups,Verisk Analytics, and Tencent Vice President Ma Bin, shared their ideas on Big Data and higher-order analytical capabilities in innovative insurance industry applications;
• Fabio Sbianchi, CEO of OCTO Telematics, and Aldo Monteforte, founder and CEO of THE Floow, representing the world’s two most well-known telematics service providers,conducted an in-depth analysis of the business opportunities that telematicshad in the global market and China;
• J. Przybyl, President of innovative US auto insurance claims service provider Snapsheet, and Dr. Woody Mo, founder of eBaoTech Corporation, discussed their new views oninnovation in back-end system and services;
• Steven Mendel, founder of Bought By Many, and Yang Fan, founder of Trust Mutual Life Insurance Company (which was preparing for formation), also shared their views on opportunities for innovation in mutual insurance and insurance driven by social media; and
• Fidelidade’sRogerio Henriques and Zhou Lei, founder of the innovative enterprise DATEBAO, also exchanged views with each other and the attendees on health insurance innovation under the circumstances of different countries.

The Forum also formally released the 2016 China Internet Insurance Development Report. The report focuses on basic information on growth in InsurTechin 2015.China’s InsurTech industry made rapid progress in 2015: rapid growth in the number of InsurTech firms; steady increase inthe number of industrieswhich are engaged in InsurTech; a surge in revenues from InsurTech, and consistently high market concentration; significant changes in the product mix with personal insurance accounting for more than property insurancefor the first time; and profound changes in the channel structure with domination by the third-party platforms.The rapid growth in InsurTech has attracted various types of investors to the industry. Such investors are building up their business presence in the market for InsurTech. This development has greatly enriched the business ecosystembut has also increased the risk due to a lack rules in that industry.

Wang Min, Deputy Secretary-General of Insurance Association of China, and Wilson Sun, Vice President of Fosun insurance business, two of the moderators of the Forum, said that as China was adapting its InsurTech to the overseas markets around the world and as international exchanges in InsurTech became more frequent, Fosun, together with Insurance Association of China, would invite more domestic and foreign counterparts to strive to build a better platform for international exchange of views on financial innovation, and to jointly contribute to the innovation and development of China's insurance industry.