Online sector to open up

China will gradually open up the online insurance sector and issue more licenses to market participants, a member of China's top political advisory body was quoted by Securities Times as saying on Monday.[Special coverage]

China is entering the e-commerce era with an increased level of online consumption and online insurance will be a new growth sector, said Li Kemu, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and former vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission(CIRC) said.

He also noted that online insurance is a significant innovation.

There is now only one existing online insurance firm and it is a CIRC pilot program, Li said.

However, Li said that China will open up this sector as regulators improve risk controls and supervision mechanisms.