According to a press release from Macau's Health Bureau (SS), the preliminary plan to provide mainland China insurance to Macau residents in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) will be first executed in the Zhuhai and Hengqin area. This decision comes after a consensus was reached between SS and the Administration of Social Insurance Fund of Guangdong Province which permits residents to participate in the local medical insurance system. The next step will be to produce a timetable and consultation rules, reported Macau News Agency.
Although Zhuhai is the first city to implement the pilot, the plan will be implemented gradually in the other eight cities in the GBA. Under current rules, residents of Macau living in the GBA are able to register for mainland insurance coverage but there are no official rules stating this yet. To discuss future plans, the SS expects to host a conference on 7 May involving experts and Macau residents living in the GBA.
GBA is a cluster of nine cities in Guangdong as well as the two special administrative regions, Macau and Hong Kong, which has been defined as an economic zone by the central government.
In February this year, China's cabinet, the State Council, unveiled its blueprint for the GBA which aims to turn the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau region into a leading global innovation hub, boost infrastructure connectivity between cities and boost the financial sector.
Titled as the ‘Outline Development Plan’, the blueprint contains several measures related to insurance. Initiatives pertaining to the insurance industry include:
- Promoting cross-boundary renminbi reinsurance business
- Supporting joint development by insurance institutions in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau on cross-border motor and medical insurance products
- Exploring the development of a trading platform for insurance elements such as international marine insurance
- Providing facilitation services such as underwriting, investigation and claims for cross-border policyholders.
The plan also states that support will be given to qualified Hong Kong and Macau insurers to set up operations in Qianhai in Shenzhen, Nansha in Guangzhou and Hengqin in Zhuhai. Among other opportunities, insurers would be able to participate in major investment projects in the GBA through debt, equity, bonds, asset support plans and private equity funds.