CHINA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hao Zhan, Jia Wan, Xuelei Wang and Wei Cui, AnJie Broad Law Firm
department is the administrative agency of agricul- tural insurance, and the subsidies are determined by the local financial department. Therefore, when they hear the relevant cases, in addition to apply- ing the PRC Insurance Law, the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (the “Civil Code”) and other laws, PRC courts also need to take into account the regulations issued by local financial departments. • Third, parties to agricultural insurance policies are prone to dispute the validity of the terms of the insurance policy and the manner of determining the loss resulting from incidents. In practice, the two main issues disputed are whether the loss has really occurred and whether there is a fraudulent claim. • Lastly, because the insureds of agriculture insur- ance policies generally have low incomes and are in a relatively vulnerable position, the PRC courts tend to protect the interest of the insureds by tak- ing into account the principle of equity. Litigation property preservation liability insurance Litigation property preservation refers to the protec- tion measures taken by the court to prevent the party (generally the defendant) from transferring, concealing or selling the property before the judgment is issued, so as to ensure the smooth execution of the judgment after it takes effect in the future. In accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China, when receiving the appli- cation for taking preservation measures, the People’s Court may require the applicant/plaintiff to provide a guarantee. In recent years, a litigation property pres- ervation liability (LPPL) insurance policy is considered a qualified and legitimate method through which to provide a guarantee. LPPL insurance generally covers the losses suffered by the defendant as a result of wrongful or improper application for property preservation. If the applicant/ plaintiff loses the case, the defendant will sue the applicant/plaintiff and the insurer to reimburse the losses caused by property preservation measures. With the wide application of LPPL insurance in civil litigation cases, more and more disputes have arisen
out of such insurance policies. The following criteria are considered in LPPL disputes: • whether the applicant has subjective fault; • whether the preservation measures are adopted in an improper manner; • whether the defendant has suffered any loss; and • whether there is a direct causal link between the improper preservation measures and the defend- ant’s loss. New Laws, Regulations and Trends Planned amendment of the PRC Insurance Law On 8 May 2026, the General Office of the State Coun- cil issued the “State Council’s 2026 Legislative Work Plan”, in which the draft amendment to the PRC Insur- ance Law remains listed as a legislative project to be prepared for submission to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for deliberation. The draft amendment had also been included as a preparatory legislative project in the State Council’s legislative work plans for 2024 and 2025. On 4 September 2026, the National Financial Regula- tory Administration issued the Draft Amendment to the Insurance Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft for Public Comments) and invited public com- ments on the draft. The draft amendment contains 214 articles across eight chapters and proposes significant changes to China’s insurance regulatory framework. The key amendments proposed in the draft include: • strengthened supervision of shareholders and actual controllers, including tighter qualification, disclosure and related-party transaction require- ments; • enhanced prudential regulation, particularly in corporate governance, solvency, risk management and asset-liability management; • improved risk resolution and market exit mecha- nisms, including stronger early intervention and takeover arrangements; • stronger consumer protection, including personal information protection, prohibition of misleading sales practices and statutory recognition of cool- ing-off periods; and
81 I NSURANCE L I T IGATI O N 2026
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