Nov. 21, 2017 ，Fosun Group convened the 2^nd Global Insurtech Innovation Conference (GIIC) in Shanghai, which has been widely recognized as one of the most influential global events of its kind.

In November last year, under the name of Global Insurtech Innovation Forum, the event invited Sheila Bair, former Chairperson of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, alongside other big names from outside China. This time, in the long list of heavyweight guests are representatives from kingmakers of China's Internet -- Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (better known as BAT in combination) who have explored the insurance space aggressively in recent years, as well as regulators, InsurTech entrepreneurs and investors from United States, Europe and Southeast Asia, etc.

A good example is Jay Weintraub, Founder and CEO of InsureTech Connect (ITC), the world's largest event focused on insurance innovation and disruption. "The GIIC has done a great job in such a short time. We view the GIIC as a strategic partner of ITC from the other side of Pacific Ocean. GIIC and ITC have a great opportunity to combine the strength and resources from both sides and launch initiatives together in the near future," said Weintraub.

Fully supported by Insurance Association of China (IAC) and Fosun Group, the GIIC has gained particular importance in its host country. Zhou Yanli, former Vice Chairperson of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), China's national insurance governing body, took advantage of the conference to share his insights into the industry's global trend and the strategic consideration of China's insurance industry. "InsurTech is going to be the key to the industry's upgrading and competitiveness. I believe the GIIC is of great significance and will have deep impact on the further development of this industry in China," said Zhou.

The newly released 2017 China Internet Insurance Development Report has provided a standard procedure for GIIC. By inviting Alex Ren, President of Ping An Insurance, to share an onsite understanding of the report, China's InsurTech industry strives to embark on a rational development path and is more than willing to collaborate with international counterparts.

Fosun has rebranded the event with a new logo, determined to keep it going as an annual event. Fosun International's Chairman Guo Guangchang said, "Technology innovation is of supreme importance to Fosun. What we've been doing is much more than just being a strategic investor in a variety of industries. We are also creating customer-to-maker (C2M) ecosystems of health, happiness and wealth, with a view to providing high-quality products and services for families around the world. The same logic applies to our efforts to build the InsurTech space with a new platform of GIIC."

Compared with last year, GIIC 2017 emphasizes more on the characteristics of InsurTech phase development and serves as a platform of idea exchange of technology evolution and insurance application. A range of technologies, such as intelligent speech, block chain, autonomous driving, etc., were widely discussed and tech-savvy professionals have shared their experience in, reflection on, and solutions to issues concerned in the insurance industry.

"We are delighted to see that GIIC has quickly become a showroom for what's new in the insurance sector. Fosun continues to create InsurTech C2M innovation capabilities via investment, self-building and synergy, dedicated to providing all kinds of support for the development of InsurTech startups globally," said Kang Lan, President of Fosun Insurance Group.

Fosun also announced to set up a special InsurTech fund in a bid to progressively expand interdisciplinary investment along the insurance value chain. "The birth of this special fund aligns with our current efforts and long-term strategy in the area. We are about to release more details shortly," said Kang.