02:07
Chinese retirees hold rare protest over cuts in healthcare insurance
Chinese retirees hold rare protest over cuts in healthcare insurance
The jumbo policy, along with a hike in sales of insurance products to wealthy customers, helped the insurer to report strong growth in the January-to-March period, said Daisy Tsang, interim CEO of Hong Kong and Macau of HSBC Life.
Other leading players such as AIA Group, Manulife and Prudential also saw robust sales growth driven mainly by policies being snapped up by mainland visitors.
In the first three months, some 11.2 million travellers visited the city, including 8.7 million from the mainland, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Both numbers were up more than 150 per cent from a year earlier.
Mainland Chinese tourists last year spent HK$59 billion on life and medical insurance policies in Hong Kong, higher than the level recorded between 2017 and 2019 of HK$43 billion to HK$51 billion.
“As Hong Kong continued its economic growth and welcomed a growing number of visitors in the first quarter, we are delighted to report strong business growth during the period,” said Patrick Graham, CEO of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau.
He also credited Manulife’s expansion of its product portfolio and sales channels during the quarter.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the growth opportunities ahead driven by the continued influx of visitors, benefiting from the recent expansion of the Individual Visit Scheme and the government’s plans to host more mega events in the second half of the year,” Graham added.
The Individual Visit Scheme, implemented in 2003 to allow solo tourists to visit Hong Kong, was recently expanded to cover more mainland cities.
The increase in visitors also drove up demand for travel insurance, sending new premiums for accident and health insurance up 12.4 per cent to HK$6.9 billion, the data showed.