By the end of 2005, foreign insurance companies controlled 6.92 percent of the Chinese insurance market, up from 1.58 percent before China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO). Their premiums reached 34.1 billion yuan (US$4.36 billion) by the end of 2005, up from 3.33 billion yuan at the end of 2001, according to China Insurance Regulatory Commission International Department (CIRC) director Meng Zhaoyi.

Foreign insurers' market shares in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangdong Province reached 19.43, 17.37, 10.14 and 8.86 percent respectively, according to Meng.

From 2001 to 2005, 27 foreign insurers controlled 10 to 20 percent of the stakes of 22 domestic insurance companies. Forty-seven foreign insurance institutions set up 121 business offices and 135 foreign insurance companies established nearly 200 representative offices on the Chinese mainland.