China promotes commercial insurance for servicepeople

BEIJING - China's State Council and Central Military Commission on Sunday adopted a document encouraging commercial insurance providers to come up with products tailored for servicepeople.

They promised insurance providers tax exemptions for business related to military units, servicepeople and their family members, and called particularly for endowment insurance, health insurance and household property insurance policies.

According to the document, military units, servicepeople and their family members should be encouraged to apply for insurance on a voluntary basis.

The authorities hope the move will make jobs in the army more attractive and safeguard the rights and interests of servicepeople.

Their lot improved dramatically in April 2012, when China's top legislature passed the country's first law on servicepeople's insurance, exempting service members from paying premiums for their death and injury insurance and providing that premiums would be covered by the state.

It also enforced government-subsidized medical insurance and pension programs for unemployed spouses of servicepeople who follow their husbands or wives to where they are stationed.