CHINA is to formulate supportive policies to push forward agricultural insurance and encourage insurance companies to provide better services in rural areas, said sources with the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).

Last year, the State insurance watchdog received 47 suggestions from deputies to the National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, and 41 proposals from members of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body. They believed China should strengthen the role of agricultural insurance as a social stabilizer and encourage commercial insurance companies to join hand with the government in building the rural cooperative medical care system. The CIRC said it improved last year the trial operation of agricultural insurance in Shanghai, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Sichuan.