The International Reinsurance Functional Zone in Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area recorded 11.79 billion yuan ($1.76 billion) in premium transactions from January through August, surpassing its full-year total for 2025.

After taking 12 months to reach its first 10-billion-yuan milestone, the zone crossed the 20-billion-yuan mark in just eight months. This highlights Shanghai's accelerating development as an international reinsurance center.

This progress would not have been possible without strong policy support. National and local authorities have jointly introduced three dedicated policies over the past five years. Their coordinated efforts send a clear signal of China's continued commitment to deepening reform and opening-up in the reinsurance sector.

Meanwhile, an action plan to develop offshore finance in Shanghai identifies offshore reinsurance as one of six priority business areas. Under this favorable policy framework, cross-border inward reinsurance premiums in Lin-gang reached 738 million yuan in the first half of 2026, up 131 percent year-on-year.

Lin-gang is now home to 26 reinsurance institutions, covering a full range of businesses from inward and outward reinsurance to brokerage services.

More than 170 institutions have registered with the Shanghai International Reinsurance Exchange and obtained trading access. Meanwhile, ICBC-AXA Life recently became the first life insurer to join the exchange, further diversifying the platform's participant base.

Source: Lin-gang Special Area Administration