Interface News Reporter | Feng Lijun
The "Administrative Measures for Online Marketing of Financial Products" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") came into effect on 9/30. What are the latest developments in the insurance sector?
As the internet becomes an increasingly important channel for financial product marketing, various risks have emerged, including false and misleading advertising, marketing practices that raise concerns about monopolies and disorderly competition, and promotional content that violates social public order and good morals. Against this backdrop, in 4 this year, eight departments—including the People's Bank of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the National Intellectual Property Administration, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange—jointly issued the "Measures," which officially took effect on 9/30.
The Measures specify that financial products marketed via public accounts, live streaming, or short videos must be promoted through the financial institution's proprietary platform or its legally registered account on a third-party internet platform. Marketing personnel must be employees of the financial institution, hold relevant qualifications, and obtain explicit authorization from the institution.
At the beginning of 9, the Yulin Branch of the National Financial Regulatory Administration imposed administrative penalties on New China Life Insurance Company's Yulin Central Branch and relevant responsible individuals for "unauthorized dissemination of inappropriate promotional content on WeChat Moments." The penalties included warnings and fines of 2 million yuan and 1 million yuan, respectively.
Overall, regulatory penalties for such conduct are increasing. According to Enterprise Early Warning Pass data, regulators have issued 85 fines this year for false or non-compliant promotion: 28 against institutions and 57 against individuals. Both figures are higher than last year's totals. This year alone, insurance institutions have received 1399 fines for violations in sales practices.
According to Jiemian News, "marketers must possess relevant qualifications and authorization." Some institutions and platforms had already begun complying with this requirement prior to the release of the Measures.
In 8 this year, celebrities such as Li Chen appeared on the Ant Insurance live stream and publicly disclosed their personal insurance sales license numbers. According to individuals close to Ant Insurance, Li Chen's qualifications were primarily intended to meet compliance requirements and adhere to the platform's live stream rules.
Additionally, the Measures stipulate that financial institutions must strengthen compliance reviews by promptly auditing official accounts on third-party internet platforms such as WeChat Official Accounts, live streaming services, and short video apps to ensure all marketing and promotional content complies with applicable laws, regulations, and the Measures. When creating online marketing materials, institutions must not exaggerate insurance coverage or product returns, nor may they draw simplistic comparisons between insurance returns and other financial products like bank deposits or asset management products.
According to industry sources, multiple insurance companies and intermediaries have intensified compliance training, emphasizing that such preparations began earlier.
A senior executive from a leading insurance brokerage told Interface News, "We take compliance very seriously; it is our foundation. Our company assigns dedicated compliance officers to each branch office who monitor the online profiles of all practitioners in real time."
"We implemented this plan well in advance. As traditional marketing is becoming outdated, online internet channels enable faster customer acquisition. Therefore, we have conducted compliance training for our employees' WeChat Moments management and self-media operations. We also certified select staff with strong communication skills to publish insurance-related content on Video Accounts for lead generation," an executive from a local insurance agency told Interface News. "Our local industry association and financial regulators have also launched corresponding self-inspection and rectification campaigns. We have completed our self-assessment as required and submitted the report."
"Previously, we conducted occasional checks; now, we perform regular inspections because the internet's reach and influence are too vast," added a representative from the insurance agency.
On the insurer side, some companies have confirmed they are making adjustments in line with the Measures. "We've updated our internal management strategies and are also exploring market perspectives, particularly regarding whether regulators will issue more detailed operational guidelines in the future," a representative from a top life insurance company told Jiemian News.
However, marketing乱象 on third-party platforms persist. According to a previous report by Jiemian News, multiple social media platforms have posts or videos that begin with misleading copy such as "The Big Four Banks Announce: Save 50 million to unlock 5.01% interest," which are actually illegal cross-border insurance marketing within mainland China. These accounts are all professional Blue V accounts, verified under insurance brokerage firms or insurance companies.
After verification by the involved insurance brokerage firm and the platform, the specific account that posted the relevant content was identified as a suspected black/gray market impersonation. The platform has suspended this account.
In fact, platform operators bear supervisory and management responsibilities for such phenomena. The Measures stipulate that third-party internet platforms must strengthen verification of the qualifications of entities engaged in financial product marketing and related content production activities. They must also enhance monitoring and inspections; upon discovering marketing or promotional content that violates these Measures, they must immediately cease information dissemination services and report to the relevant regulatory authorities.
The platform is also strengthening governance of its financial ecosystem. For instance, recently Xiaohongshu released its first "Community Financial Ecosystem Code of Conduct," establishing clear rules for financial marketing activities on the platform. According to Xiaohongshen, actions such as overseas insurance products falsely claiming bank endorsements or misrepresenting "demonstration interest rates" as "guaranteed returns" are also subject to enforcement. In a recent special campaign targeting violations in overseas insurance marketing alone, 1000 accounts and 3000 posts were removed.
"Overall, we believe the Measures will primarily increase compliance and operational costs for insurers, reduce flexibility in distributing policies via third-party internet platforms, and potentially lower conversion rates for some high-pressure or highly personalized digital marketing approaches," said Wang Changtai, Senior Director of Insurance Ratings at Fitch Ratings Asia Pacific, speaking to Jiemian News. "However, by curbing misleading advertising, unlicensed intermediary activities, and brand confusion, the Measures are expected to enhance the long-term credibility of the insurance industry."
