China will start revising regulations on insurance brokerage, agency and assessment institutions and the new rules are expected to come out by the end of this year, China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said in Beijing Wednesday.

The old rules, issued in 2001, cannot keep up with the current situation, the CIRC said, adding that other revised laws, such as company law, also require it to modify the above regulations.

China had 1,800 insurance intermediary agencies by the end of 2005, including 1,313 insurance agencies, 268 brokers and 219 assessors, official statistics show.

Insurance brokers and assessors maintained a stable growth in 2005 and saw a positive profit margin for the first time, according to the CIRC.

Specifically, insurance brokers realized a profit margin of 7.7 million yuan (about 954,370 US dollars) while the accessors of 20.2 million yuan, statistics released by the CIRC show.

The insurance premium of agencies and brokers hit 20.5 billion yuan in 2005, up 59 percent year on year, accounting for 4.16 percent of the total premiums. Evaluation fees of assessors reached 297 million yuan, up 98 percent year on year.

Source: Xinhua