The boom in niche¹ insurance products available for purchase online in China has some industry experts worried, reports Xinhua News Agency.

 

新华社报道，国内网上可购买的利基保险产品市场的繁荣引起业内专家的担忧。

 

Adventurous² eaters can buy a policy for 9 yuan (around 1.40 U.S. dollars) that pays out up to 1,000 yuan a year for medical expenses if the policy holder³ gets acute food-related gastroenteritis.

 

Another policy offers a payout of up to 2,000 yuan for accidental injuries that occur within a period of up to three months, with policies available for less than 1 yuan.

 

Other products offer returns to pay vet⁴ bills for sick pets, broken phone screens, and cosmetic⁵ surgery accidents.

 

Around 12.5 billion online insurance products were bought in China last year, twice the number of sales made in 2016. Among which accident insurance sales experienced a five-fold increase, with the number of policies sold rising to 1.6 billion. And liability insurance products had a more than four-fold increase, with over 1 billion policies sold.

 

The boom in public interest in insurance products has led various Chinese Internet giants to join in the competition for customers, including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and JD.com.

 

According to Chen Jin, CEO of China's Zhongan Insurance, the spread of the Internet is leading to positive change in the insurance industry, bringing growing opportunities for sales of personalized insurance products.

点击收听单词发音