RURAL COVERAGE: Insurance company employees take part in a pilot project that sells insurance to low-income farmers in villages such as this one in Minqing County, Fujian Province

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) has started providing microinsurance for life and health risks for low-income residents in rural areas.

Rural residents, mainly farmers, need to pay premiums of 10 yuan-50 yuan ($1.44-$7.18), for policies that offer 10,000 yuan-50,000 yuan ($1,429-$7,143) in the event of disease, natural disasters and injuries or deaths caused by accidents. The policies can cover periods of one to five years, and their low premiums mean most farmers can afford them. High-end commercial insurance premiums typically cost 1,000 yuan ($143) annually.

The CIRC started offering the policies as part of a pilot project in early July in nine provinces (municipality and autonomous region), including Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Guangxi, Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai, which have a large population of low-income farmers. The commission will offer the policies to farmers in the rest of the country once it evaluates the results of the trial run, said Chen Wenhui, assistant to chairman of the CIRC, at a news conference in Beijing on June 23.

Anti-poverty measure

The CIRC initiated the program because rural families with low incomes have no financial guarantees should their breadwinners suffer an injury or accidental death, Chen said, adding that the project would be an effective anti-poverty measure.

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Insurance has not yet become popular in most rural areas where general financial services lag behind those offered in urban areas. CIRC figures