The development of agricultural insurance industry in China has experienced twists and turns for more than 20 years, which can be roughly divided into two stages.
The first stage: recovery and fluctuating development stage (1982 -2003). From 1982, civil affairs departments, agricultural departments, insurance companies, etc. Agricultural insurance business began to be opened one after another, and the business development showed a rapid upward trend. From 1992, agricultural insurance premium income reached 862 million yuan. At the same time, payout ratio has also greatly improved, with agricultural insurance 199 1 year reaching 1 19% in payout ratio. With the weakening of government support measures, especially after China People's Insurance Company began to transform into a commercial insurance company, the agricultural insurance business gradually shrank. In 2000, the premium income of agricultural insurance fell to 387 million yuan, and in 2002 it fell to 300 million yuan. The per capita premium paid by farmers in China was less than 1 yuan. According to statistics, during the period of 1982 -2002, the average payout ratio of agricultural insurance was as high as 88%, much higher than that of payout ratio, in which the break-even point of agricultural insurance was 79%, which led to long-term losses in agricultural insurance business, and various insurance companies cancelled operating agricultural insurance one after another. Only China People's Insurance Company Shanghai Branch and Xinjiang Construction Corps Property Insurance Company are still operating, but the variety and scale are very small. At this stage, the agricultural insurance industry in China experienced a period of atrophy and depression from rapid development to recovery.
The second stage: the development stage of breaking ice and warming up (2004-present). In recent years, with the increasingly prominent issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers, and the approach of the transition period after China's entry into WTO, the role of agricultural insurance in protecting agriculture, countryside and farmers has become increasingly prominent, and agricultural policy insurance has attracted the attention of the government and society. In 2004, China Insurance Regulatory Commission launched agricultural insurance pilot projects in nine provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, including Shanghai, Heilongjiang and Jilin. At present, China has established four agricultural insurance companies. This year, according to the spirit of the central document 1, the relevant government departments are stepping up the pilot work of agricultural policy insurance, expanding the scope of the pilot, exploring different development models of agricultural insurance in China through the pilot, and formulating policies to encourage commercial insurance companies to participate in agricultural insurance. Therefore, some people are optimistic that the spring of agricultural insurance development in China is coming soon.
2. Analysis of the dilemma of the commercialization of agricultural insurance in China.
Agriculture and insurance are two typical weak industries in China. The regular characteristics of high risk, high cost and low profit make agricultural insurance a "weak combination" industry. 10 years of commercial operation practice of agricultural insurance shows that the commercial operation of agricultural insurance in China has entered the dilemma of "insufficient supply and weak demand". The reasons mainly include the following aspects, which can be summarized as "four contradictions":
First, the contradiction between the externality of agricultural insurance and the profitability of commercial operation. The quasi-public product attribute of agricultural insurance determines that agricultural insurance has a strong externality, and relying solely on the allocation of market mechanism will cause market failure, requiring the government to fulfill its macro-control and public management responsibilities. The commercial operation of agricultural insurance, the pursuit of profit and low marginal income will lead agricultural insurance operators to choose insurance types according to the degree of return of economic interests, thus reducing the investment and operating intensity of agricultural insurance, because agricultural insurance operators will not take the initiative to bear the economic losses caused by externalities for the government or society. The result of contradiction is inevitably the development of agricultural insurance, especially the agricultural insurance with prominent externalities shrinks or even disappears, and the supply of agricultural insurance is insufficient.
The second is the contradiction between low compensation of agricultural insurance and high risk of agricultural industry. Agriculture is seriously affected by natural disasters. Due to the weak industry and the lack of agricultural production and operation facilities, natural disasters have caused great losses to the development of China's agricultural industry, and the harm to underdeveloped areas will be even greater, and there is a trend of gradual increase. Agricultural insurance in payout ratio remains high. However, the agricultural insurance industry, as the "protective umbrella" for the development of agricultural industry, is affected by its own income and insurance management, but its compensation level for agricultural disasters is very low, far below the actual loss value. According to estimates, the average annual agricultural loss from 1998 to 2000 was16865438+59 million yuan, and the average annual compensation through agricultural insurance was 450 million yuan, accounting for only 0.27%.
Third, the contradiction between the high cost of agricultural insurance and the low income of farmers. Agricultural insurance is based on the law of large numbers, with low premium and sufficient guarantee. The high risk of agricultural industry, the dispersion of space, the seasonality of time and the complexity of fixed loss have caused the high nature of agricultural insurance. Agricultural insurance needs to pay more manpower, material resources and financial resources than ordinary urban insurance, which determines that the normal operation of agricultural insurance must be guaranteed by high rates, and the rate of crop insurance in some areas is as high as 10%. However, compared with urban residents, China's agricultural foundation is weak, the efficiency and benefit of agricultural production are not high, the income level of farmers is relatively low, and the ability to pay for agricultural insurance is limited, which leads to a serious shortage of effective demand for agricultural insurance.
Fourthly, the contradiction between the moral hazard of agricultural insurance and the lack of legal system. Influenced by the attributes of agricultural operators, small farmers' awareness and cultural quality, especially due to the lack of legal system, the moral hazard in agricultural insurance is more serious, and it is difficult to reduce the supervision cost. According to statistics, the losses caused by moral hazard to insurance companies account for 20% of crop insurance compensation. However, the adverse selectivity caused by regional differences and individual differences makes the payout ratio of agricultural insurance operators remain high. In addition to the information asymmetry in the insurance market, the lack of relevant legal systems is also one of the important contradictions. Insurance law is a law on commercial insurance in China, and it is not applicable to agricultural insurance. The Agricultural Law is only general. Without specific legal provisions, the laws and regulations of agricultural insurance are almost blank.
Second, the development of foreign agricultural insurance for reference: the organic combination of policy and business
Agricultural insurance has the function of risk management and income transfer, and all countries in the world attach great importance to the development of agricultural insurance as an important means to support and protect agriculture. At present, more than 40 countries in the world have established relatively perfect agricultural insurance systems. Among them, there are developed countries such as the United States, Canada and France, as well as developing countries such as the Philippines, Mauritius and Chile. Countries have adopted different development models and policies according to their national conditions.
Judging from the modes of agricultural insurance in various countries, it can be roughly divided into government-led policy agricultural insurance development mode and market-led commercial agricultural insurance development mode. Specifically, it can be divided into the following types:
1, sponsored by the government, the management development model of commercial insurance companies.
This model is represented by the United States. According to the Federal Crop Insurance Law, the U.S. government canceled the government relief plan and incorporated crop producers into the crop insurance plan through four major types of insurance, namely, catastrophe insurance with basic protection, extended insurance with higher protection level, collective insurance and uninsured crop protection plan. It also stipulates that farmers who do not participate in government insurance programs cannot get help from other government programs. In terms of operation mode, the federal government has established a crop insurance company and entrusted commercial insurance companies to carry out specific operations. The government bears the expenses of federal crop insurance companies, the promotion and education expenses of crop insurance, provides 20%-25% subsidies to commercial insurance companies engaged in agricultural insurance, and provides policy support such as crop insurance tax exemption, proportional reinsurance and excess loss reinsurance. In 2000, the average agricultural insurance subsidy in the United States was 53% of the pure premium, and the average premium subsidy was $6.6 per mu. The catastrophe risk of crops is subject to compulsory insurance system, and catastrophe insurance subsidizes all premiums, while others are voluntary. Insured farmers can get the highest compensation from the federal crop insurance company when the crop harvest is reduced by more than 25% due to disasters in that year. From 1980- 1999, the federal government's total financial subsidies for crop insurance reached15 billion US dollars, and from 1999 reached 2.24 billion US dollars.
Further reading: How to buy insurance, which is good, and teach you how to avoid these "pits" of insurance.