Cancel 60 licenses! Draining the "water" from insurance intermediaries, how will the "survivors" become kings

Under the backdrop of ongoing intensified regulation and the main theme of high-quality development, China’s insurance intermediary market is undergoing a systematic and profound ecological restructuring. The industry landscape, once characterized by wild growth and chaos, is being thoroughly reshaped. On February 27, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission announced that from 2024 to 2025, a total of 3 insurance intermediary groups have been revoked or canceled, and 57 professional insurance intermediary legal entities have been deregistered; 3,730 branches of professional insurance intermediaries and 226 insurance agency licensees have been phased out.

This marks an important milestone since the launch of the “Clear Out, Standardize, and Improve Quality” campaign in the insurance intermediary market in 2024. Amid the market’s “big wave of淘沙” (sorting out the chaff), the transformation of small and medium-sized insurance intermediaries has become urgent. Industry insiders believe that as the campaign deepens, the exit and淘汰 of unqualified institutions are inevitable trends in industry development and market evolution.

Accelerating the Cleanup and Quality Improvement

Historically, the insurance intermediary industry has long suffered from issues of “many, scattered, chaotic” operations—many agencies with no actual business, no dedicated staff, and no fixed premises, relying solely on licensing to earn channel fees. Some even profit through false insurance applications, premium interception, and off-book rebates, severely disrupting market order.

On February 27, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued a statement emphasizing that it will uphold strict regulation and conduct the “Clear Out, Standardize, and Improve Quality” campaign starting in 2024. The agency will classify, step-by-step, and lawfully eliminate insurance intermediaries that do not meet regulatory requirements or operate abnormally, strictly investigate illegal activities, and revoke licenses of those severely disrupting market order. From 2024 to 2025, a total of 3 insurance intermediary groups have been revoked or canceled, 57 professional insurance intermediary legal entities deregistered; 3,730 branches of professional insurance intermediaries and 226 insurance agency licensees phased out.

“This large-scale cleanup is a dual result of regulatory rectification and market淘汰,” said Fu Yifu, a special researcher at the Shanghai Commercial Bank. He pointed out that the regulatory effort directly targets industry stubborn problems, focusing on clearing out “shell” organizations with no real operations and entities involved in false business, illegal sales, financial fraud, and fund misappropriation. By canceling legal licenses and closing branches, the market ecology is being purified from the source. Meanwhile, the “reporting and operation integration” policy has been fully implemented, requiring insurance companies to pay commissions to intermediaries consistent with recorded fees, effectively closing the gray area of off-book rebates. The commission rates have been significantly compressed, causing profits of small and medium-sized intermediaries relying on high rebates to sharply decline or even incur losses.

Additionally, Beijing Business Daily learned that some agencies have long been detached from regulatory oversight, with weak informatization and compliance capabilities, unable to meet the demands of strict regulation and digital transformation, ultimately leading to their phased exit due to operational difficulties or compliance violations.

New Value Positioning

While many small and medium-sized agencies are withdrawing, leading insurance brokerage and agency firms are expanding against the trend.

“Industry concentration is rapidly increasing, and the ‘Matthew Effect’ is becoming more evident,” industry insiders said. Leading institutions leverage capital strength, compliance systems, digital capabilities, and deep integration with insurance companies to achieve scaled profitability even in an era of low commissions. For example, some large brokerages have transformed into “comprehensive risk management service providers,” offering one-stop solutions from risk identification and product customization to claims coordination for corporate clients, far surpassing the traditional role of “selling policies.” Conversely, small and medium-sized agencies lacking professional skills, low informatization levels, and weak compliance awareness struggle to survive under regulatory pressure and market squeeze.

In response to these industry changes, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has clarified its next steps, focusing on risk prevention, strengthened regulation, and promoting high-quality development. It will solidify insurance intermediary supervision, improve regulatory systems, continue to deepen the “Clear Out, Standardize, and Improve Quality” campaign, optimize market structure, enhance professional and informatization capabilities of intermediaries, deepen reforms in insurance agency licensing, and promote high-quality development of insurance intermediaries to improve financial service quality and efficiency.

After the reshuffle, how will the survivors truly “become kings”? Fu Yifu stated that building core competitiveness involves: first, establishing a solid compliance bottom line and a full-process risk control system to ensure lawful operations and business expansion; second, strengthening professional capabilities, focusing on niche areas, providing customized risk solutions and claims services to build customer trust; third, accelerating digital transformation by using technology to optimize customer acquisition, underwriting, and claims processes, reducing costs and increasing efficiency; fourth, deepening cooperation with insurance companies, integrating product and channel resources, and building differentiated service barriers to upgrade from sales intermediaries to comprehensive risk management service providers.

Beijing Business Daily Reporter Li Xiumei

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

Keywords: Insurance