Digitalization transforming China Continent

China Continent P&C Insurance has recorded a further optimized business structure and robust operational performance in the first half, thanks to its investment in digital transformation during the past few years.

Its gross written premiums jumped by 11.1 percent from a year ago to hit 24.3 billion yuan (US$3.39 billion) from January to June and the carrier attributed the achievement mainly to rapid growth of its non-motor insurance businesses, including personal loan surety insurance, accident and short-term health insurance, liability insurance and cargo insurance.

Its net profit amounted to 840 million yuan and combined ratio stood at 99.86 percent, representing a year-on-year decrease of 0.11 percentage points.

The results came from sustained efforts to promote technological innovation and application in past years, said Chen Yong, the insurer's vice chairman and president.

Since 2017, the company has mapped out three strategies to focus on customers’ needs, business structures and technologies. In the past year, the carrier realized online, digitalized and intelligent operation of its business.

By using big data technology, China Continent says it has a better understanding of customers’ needs and can offer them more targeted coverage. For instance, the company has seen a successful rate of 60 percent for the cross-selling of health insurance plans to their auto insurance policyholders, Chen said.

Last December, the insurer launched its new generation of the “Somersault Cloud” system for some outlets, which had been promoted to all of its branches by this July. The system was the world’s first core business system for insurance companies with “cloud structure plus micro-service” model, according to the company.

With the tech-powered new system, the insurer can encapsulate relevant information of insurance plans in a “product factory” according to their functions, and then customize products based on user need. And the time for deploying new business has been reduced from the previous one to two weeks to just minutes.

Based on first-half data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China Continent had a market share of 3.6 percent, ranking 6th among all primary P&C insurance companies in the domestic market.