Chinese people will no longer be able to take out cover against acne, sleep deprivation or smog after regulators banned insurance products deemed “attention-grabbing”, “speculative” and “exotic”.
The regulations issued by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission are part of a broader crackdown on non-traditional products.
Last month the commission launched a campaign against insurers straying beyond their core business model — insuring against personal losses — by selling short-term investments called universal insurance products, the proceeds of which were used to fund acquisitions. Liu Shiyu, the commission’s chief, warned insurers not to become “barbarians” and “robbers” by aggressively acquiring companies in leveraged buyouts.