The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) was an agency of China authorized by the State Council to regulate the Chinese insurance products and services market and maintain legal and stable operations of insurance industry. It was founded on November 18, 1998, upgraded from a semi-ministerial to a ministerial institution in 2003, and currently has 31 local offices in every province. On 17 March 2018, the 13th National People's Congress announced a plan to overhaul China's financial regulatory system. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), and the banking regulator, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), were merged into the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) with an aim to resolve problems such as unclear responsibilities and cross-regulation. The CBIRC was officially established on 8 April 2018.

Functions

The main functions of the CIRC were:

Structure

Internal Setup of the CIRC is:

Funds

In September 2008, CIRC set up a nonprofit state-owned corporation China Insurance Security Fund Co., Ltd. with a registered capital of 100 million yuan to manage its insurance protection fund, amounting to at least 7 billion yuan (about US$1 billion).

Management

The chief of the agency, Xiang Junbo, was appointed in October 2011 and has laid plans to introduce pricing and other market reforms. In April 2017, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced online that Xiang was being investigated for suspected serious violation of the Party's code of conduct. In early September, Xiang was expelled from the CCP and dismissed from public office, the CCDI said.

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