Source: Securities Daily
Insurance funds should invest in early-stage, small-scale, long-term projects, and hard-tech sectors through bonds, funds, equity, asset securitization, and other channels.
In a report by journalist Liu Qi, on 9 month 28, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (hereinafter referred to as the "NFRA") announced that it recently held a joint meeting with the Ministry of Science and Technology and other departments to advance discussions on tech insurance.
The meeting noted that in recent years, coordinated efforts by various departments, regions, and insurance providers have propelled technology insurance from pilot initiatives to a systematic rollout. Business volume has grown rapidly, and coverage has continuously expanded. From 1 to 8 of 2026, technology insurance provided risk protection totaling 8.7 trillion yuan for tech activities, marking a year-over-year increase of 66.9%. The number of operating entities grew from an initial 4 pilot firms to over 60. The first-of-a-kind and first-batch insurance mechanisms have operated for more than a decade, delivering over 1 trillion yuan in risk protection for major technical equipment and key new materials. Local initiatives have achieved positive results in exploring technology insurance for commercial aerospace, integrated circuits, and quantum technologies.
The meeting emphasized that technology insurance is an effective tool for strengthening risk-sharing mechanisms for major technological breakthroughs and supporting high-level scientific self-reliance. Policies must be implemented to address "who needs coverage, what risks are covered, and how to insure," leveraging the insurance industry's role as an economic shock absorber and a social stabilizer. Regions should tailor their approaches by innovating distinctive insurance products and services, focusing on building a diversified insurance protection system.
The meeting emphasized that the "15th Five-Year Plan" period is a critical phase for achieving high-level technological self-reliance and building a leading technology nation. It is essential to fully recognize the significance of tech insurance in supporting technological innovation. Given that tech innovation involves high investment, significant risks, and long development cycles, tech insurance must evolve from covering assets to covering processes, from protecting outcomes to enabling exploration, and from "economic compensation" to "risk reduction" and "empowerment with enhanced creditworthiness." Strengthen policy communication and establish a coordinated mechanism for advancing tech insurance to ensure effective implementation of related policies. Support Beijing (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei), Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta), and the Greater Bay Area international science and technology innovation centers in becoming the primary launchpads for tech insurance innovation, leveraging their roles as pioneers and demonstrators.
The meeting called for focusing on major national scientific and technological tasks and technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises to expand insurance coverage, promoting tech insurance into industrial parks, incubators, and high-tech zones. Products should be optimized across the entire value chain—from R&D and pilot testing to commercialization, first-use trials, and industrialization—while embedding risk assessment, monitoring and early warning, and hazard identification into corporate innovation processes. Insurance providers must strengthen their internal capabilities in policy, product design, teams, talent development, and performance evaluation; accumulate tech-risk data; and refine actuarial pricing. Insurance capital should invest early, support small ventures, commit to long-term horizons, and target hard technologies through bonds, funds, equity, and asset securitization. Regulatory bodies—including financial supervision, science and technology, industry and information technology, finance, and intellectual property departments—should enhance coordination, balance innovation support with fund safety management, and foster a favorable development environment. Additionally, the meeting launched a thematic campaign on tech insurance, sharing policies and case studies.
