China's agricultural insurance started late and developed slowly, with ups and downs. Since 1982 China People's Insurance Company resumed its agricultural insurance business, only China PICC and China United Property Insurance Company developed agricultural insurance and formed a certain scale. In the first 10 year, the premium increased rapidly, and in the second 10 year, the income plummeted, showing an inverted "u" curve. To sum up, it roughly goes through the following four stages.
(1) Recovery pilot period (1982 ~ 1990)
1982, based on the guiding ideology of serving agricultural production and sharing worries for the country and farmers, PICC resumed its agricultural insurance business and once provided a number of crop and aquaculture insurances. According to the operating principle of "restoring balance, many a mickle makes a muckle, and being prepared in the year of catastrophe", agricultural insurance aims at non-profit and has achieved remarkable social benefits.
Throughout the 1980s, agricultural insurance in China has made great progress. Pilot dozens of agricultural insurance. 1988 premium income reached 350 million yuan.
(2) Peak period (1990 ~ 1994)
From the resumption of agricultural insurance business to 1994, PICC paid little attention to the cost and profit of agricultural insurance, and started a lot of agricultural insurance according to the needs of various places. By 1993, the total number of agricultural insurance types was nearly 100, and the premium income reached 830 million yuan, and the development of agricultural insurance reached an all-time peak. However, the huge premium is accompanied by payout ratio, of which the agricultural insurance in payout ratio is 1 16% and that in payout ratio is 56%. However, compared with the dividend payout ratio of 1986 of 136%, it is not the highest year.
Persistent atrophy (1994 ~ 2003)
After 1994, the central finance requires PICC to merge with commercial insurance companies in an all-round way and implement a new financial accounting system with the main goal of paying profits and taxes, all of which are linked to economic benefits. At this time, PICC began to consider adjusting the agricultural insurance structure and "strategically shrinking" some high-risk and high-loss businesses, and payout ratio immediately declined; But at the same time, the scale of agricultural insurance and premium income are also decreasing year by year, and all insurance companies such as Pacific, Ping An and Future have not insured agricultural insurance. From 1982 to the end of 2002, the accumulated premium income of agricultural insurance was 8.3 billion yuan, and the compensation expenditure was 7.04 billion yuan, which was close to 85% of the average level in payout ratio. Coupled with management expenses, agricultural insurance has been in a state of loss. Although the country has exempted the business tax of agricultural insurance since 1996, it is insignificant compared with the huge risks.
During this period, only China People's Insurance Company and China United Property Insurance Company operated agricultural insurance, and the number of types of insurance dropped from nearly 100 at most to less than 30. Since PICC was reformed, the agricultural insurance business has been gradually closed, while China United Property Insurance barely maintained. In 2003, the national agricultural insurance premium income was only 460 million yuan, accounting for 0.04% of the total agricultural production, 0.5% of the national property insurance premium income and 0. 12% of the total premium income. The depth of agricultural insurance is less than 0.05% and the density of agricultural insurance is less than 1 yuan.
(iv) Reform period (2004-present)
In June 2003, UNITA Insurance Company was approved to set up a property insurance branch in Chengdu, which was the first foreign agricultural insurance company to enter China. In March 2004, Shanghai Anxin Agricultural Insurance Company, a national 1 professional joint-stock agricultural insurance company, was established. The major difference from the original domestic agricultural insurance business operation is that Anxin Insurance will adopt the mode of "government financial subsidy promotion and commercial operation". In addition to the traditional aquaculture and aquaculture insurance, the company also operates agricultural property insurance and liability insurance, short-term health insurance for personal accident insurance and rural residents. , the implementation of the "insurance" policy. Once the company encounters a catastrophe and cannot be borne by reinsurance, the government gives support through special disaster relief policies. Since then, Jilin Anhua Agricultural Insurance Company and Heilongjiang Reclamation Area Sunshine Mutual Agricultural Insurance Company have been established one after another. This indicates that the development of China's agricultural insurance has entered a new stage, and also indicates that a new round of agricultural insurance management system reform has started.
In 2004, China Insurance Regulatory Commission launched agricultural insurance pilot projects in nine provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, actively promoting commercial insurance companies to operate independently, act as agents for the government and jointly operate agricultural insurance business with the government. Most of the pilot projects have different forms of government support background, but they are not perfect. In 2004, the agricultural insurance premium income was 377 million yuan, which was 18.86% lower than that in 2003.
It should be affirmed that agricultural insurance has played a certain role in supporting the development of agriculture and rural economy and educating farmers on modern risk management in the past 23 years, actively exploring the management organization forms and technologies of agricultural insurance, and accumulating valuable experience. However, there is no doubt that the continuous shrinking of agricultural insurance business runs counter to the background of the current national agricultural policy adjustment, increasing farmers' income and solving the "three rural issues", and the situation is worrying. On the one hand, farmers urgently need insurance protection, on the other hand, insurance companies are unwilling to provide it. The development of agricultural insurance is extremely inadequate, which can no longer meet the needs of rural areas and farmers, and is extremely disproportionate to the national conditions of China, a large agricultural country.
Second, the plight of the development of agricultural insurance in China
China is a big agricultural country, the agricultural population accounts for 70% of the total population, and the total agricultural output value accounts for about 20% of GDP. It is also one of the countries with the most serious natural disasters in the world. The accelerated shrinkage of agricultural insurance highlights the sharp contradiction between the level of agricultural risk management and the increasingly serious agricultural risk loss, which is extremely disproportionate to the basic position of agriculture. There are many reasons why the agricultural insurance business is shrinking year by year:
(A) insufficient effective demand, lack of motivation for sustainable development
With the development of agricultural production level, farmers' quality of life and ability to pay have gradually improved, and at the same time, various natural disasters have dealt a more serious blow to agricultural production. Although many farmers have the desire to insure, on the whole, the effective demand is insufficient.
First of all, farmers' economic income is generally low, and in some places the crop insurance premium rate is as high as 9% ~ 10%, which is really a heavy economic burden for farmers with low income at present. High premium and difficult compensation are important factors restricting the development of agricultural insurance.
Secondly, most farmers are not aware of insurance and have few modern risk management concepts. There is a fluky psychology about the risks faced, and some people even associate the premium with arbitrary charges and apportionment, thinking that buying insurance will increase the economic burden.
Third, agricultural insurance is single. Insurance companies have strict control over its scale, outdated terms, difficult operation and low compensation, which leads to a higher threshold for agricultural insurance business. It is difficult for farmers to choose suitable insurance according to their own needs, and they are caught in an embarrassing situation without insurance.
The insufficient effective demand for agricultural insurance will inevitably lead to the narrow scope and small scale of agricultural insurance, which is difficult to meet the requirements of the "law of large numbers" on which insurance management depends, laying the foundation for the instability of agricultural insurance supply.
(2) Insufficient effective supply and lack of necessary conditions for sustainable development.
First of all, high risk and high payout ratio are the primary reasons for the continuous shrinking of agricultural insurance business in recent years. Agriculture is a weak industry, which includes both natural risks caused by natural disasters, economic risks caused by market information asymmetry and imbalance between supply and demand, and social risks caused by intentional or unintentional wrong behaviors of individuals or groups. The high frequency, wide range and heavy losses of risks lead to the high agricultural insurance payout ratio. This fundamentally inhibits the effective supply of agricultural insurance.
Secondly, the development of agricultural insurance types lacks technical basis. Due to the vast territory and unbalanced natural conditions, agricultural insurance lacks loss statistics and actuarial basis for determining the rate, which leads to the lag of insurance structure adjustment and is difficult to spread various risks.
Thirdly, the policy and non-profit of agricultural insurance deviate from the goal of commercial insurance companies to pursue operating profits. Agricultural insurance is a kind of policy insurance. In China, only China PICC and China United Property Insurance Company have been engaged in agricultural insurance for a long time, basically operating in a commercial mode. The commercial insurance companies are unable and unwilling to undertake high-risk agricultural insurance responsibilities because they have not yet enjoyed the policy subsidies and the operating losses are digested by the business entities themselves. Other insurance companies that pursue the business strategy of "profit growth" have no time to take care of agricultural insurance business.
(C) lack of policy support, lack of external environment for sustainable development
First of all, the government has not paid enough attention to it. At present, China mainly provides economic security for agriculture in the form of "government financial subsidies and social donations", but agricultural insurance has not yet been included in the scope of agricultural risk relief mechanism.
Secondly, there is little policy inclination to agricultural insurance. In China, agricultural insurance is the same as commercial insurance except business tax. The state has no supporting policies to support this policy business involving strengthening the basic position of agriculture. The long-term absence of financial subsidies has seriously restricted the development of agricultural insurance as a quasi-public product. In foreign countries, many countries regard agricultural insurance as a part of rural relief, agricultural credit, agricultural product price protection, farmers' welfare and other policies, and give agricultural insurance economic and legal support. For example, from 1995 in the United States, in order to encourage commercial insurance companies to start agricultural insurance business, the government provided subsidies equivalent to 3 1% of their agricultural insurance premiums to 19 companies.
Whether in theory or in practice, it is difficult to expand China's agricultural insurance business only by commercial insurance companies because of its high risk, high cost and low profitability. Agricultural insurance must be reformed.
Three. Suggestions on developing agricultural insurance
Although a new round of agricultural insurance pilot is being carried out nationwide, the sustainable development of agricultural insurance depends on a series of policy environment, institutional basis and economic and social conditions. In order to develop agricultural insurance healthily and smoothly, some related problems must be clarified and solved.
(A) pay close attention to agricultural insurance legislation to form a legal guarantee for the development of agricultural insurance.
China's agricultural insurance laws and regulations have long been absent. Article 155 of the current Insurance Law stipulates that the state supports the development of insurance services for agricultural production, and agricultural insurance shall be stipulated separately by laws and administrative regulations. China's insurance legislation cannot be achieved overnight. The CIRC may first formulate the Regulations on the Trial Implementation of Agricultural Insurance to protect, support and standardize the few agricultural insurance pilots at present, and then promulgate the national agricultural insurance law when the time is ripe, and constantly revise and improve it in light of the actual situation.
(two) the establishment of agricultural insurance policy support system, the formation of agricultural insurance development policy guarantee.
Traditional agricultural insurance (aquaculture and aquaculture insurance) is a policy business with low economic benefits but obvious social benefits. China should establish an agricultural insurance system with financial support. Use financial, taxation, finance, reinsurance and other economic means and other technical support to develop agricultural insurance.
(3) Innovating the business entities of agricultural insurance and forming the organizational guarantee for the development of agricultural insurance.
The agricultural economy and rural development in China are extremely unbalanced, and the agricultural risks are quite different. To develop agricultural insurance, we must take the road of diversification of business entities. According to international experience, agricultural insurance is a quasi-public product, and pure commercial operation is prone to market failure. Therefore, at this stage, existing commercial insurance companies should be encouraged to develop agricultural insurance business under the leadership of the government, and at the same time, various organizational forms must be developed. It not only gives full play to the basic role of the market in resource allocation, but also highlights the role of the government in inducing institutional changes and limited financial support. To carry out agricultural insurance, we should rely on the local government and choose the main form of operation according to the local economic development level and local conditions. First of all, the local government signed an agreement with commercial insurance companies, and the commercial insurance companies handled the agricultural insurance business on their behalf and carried out independent accounting. The local government will give tax incentives and financial subsidies. When the time is ripe, the agricultural insurance business will be gradually separated from commercial insurance companies, and local and even national agricultural insurance companies will be established. Secondly, set up a professional agricultural insurance company (such as Shanghai Anxin) where the agricultural insurance foundation is good.
Third, choose the place where the rural cooperative economy develops well and explore the organizational form of mutual insurance companies based on cooperative system. Finally, continue to introduce foreign-funded and joint-venture insurance companies with advanced management technology and experience, such as UNITA. It is worth noting that commercial insurance companies should be clearly positioned when they intervene in agricultural insurance business. In other words, commercial insurance companies can only operate commercial agricultural insurance business, and trying to operate policy agricultural insurance under the commercial framework may repeat the mistakes of PICC in operating agricultural insurance.