At the "Healthy China 2030" and Big Health Industry Development seminar during the China Development Forum 2026, Zhao Peng, President of PICC GROUP, stated that insurance plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring access to medical treatment, drug coverage, and healthy living for the public.

Firstly, there is a need to vigorously develop commercial health insurance to strengthen the public health security net. Zhao Peng pointed out that the goal of Healthy China is for everyone to enjoy good health, and making healthcare affordable is a fundamental prerequisite. As a market-based pillar of the multi-tiered medical security system, commercial health insurance enhances overall protection efficiency by participating in basic medical insurance administration services. Furthermore, it expands the coverage ratio and scope beyond the basic "essential coverage" provided by public insurance. With the addition of commercial health insurance, the comprehensive reimbursement rate can reach 75% to 90%, effectively reducing the public's medical financial burden. Zhao Peng mentioned that PICC achieved health insurance premium income of approximately 96.3 billion yuan in 2025, while its total premium income last year exceeded 730 billion yuan. PICC's health insurance premiums account for about one-tenth of the industry total, with China's current total health insurance premium income being roughly 1 trillion yuan. He emphasized that as the economy develops and society progresses, public demand for health security increases, making the role of commercial health insurance more critical. Notably, commercial health insurance was included in the Government Work Report for the first time in 2026 and highlighted twice, underscoring its significant value in improving the national health security system. Regarding future plans, Zhao Peng stated that PICC will continue to standardize and efficiently manage various medical insurance services, deepen the integrated development of "public insurance + commercial insurance," and maintain a leading industry role in critical illness insurance and long-term care insurance to enhance the sustainability of the social health security system. Simultaneously, PICC will promote the high-quality development of commercial health insurance by creating products that benefit groups with pre-existing conditions and rare diseases, increasing the supply of fair, accessible, and stable long-term medical insurance services, continuously improving claims settlement services, and promoting expedited direct claims and one-stop direct claim services.

Secondly, building a market-based payment security system is essential for strengthening the health industry. Zhao Peng believes the health industry is the material foundation and technical support for Healthy China. Commercial health insurance can include coverage for specialized new drugs, rare disease medications, and high-end medical devices, stabilizing market expectations for pharmaceutical companies and incentivizing more R&D investment, thereby improving the accessibility and affordability of innovative medicines.

Thirdly, strengthening full-cycle health management is vital for safeguarding public health. Zhao Peng indicated that Healthy China focuses not only on treatment rights but also on health quality, aiming to prevent illness and reduce severe disease incidence through comprehensive health promotion and population-wide coverage. As market entities, insurers inherently aim to reduce disease incidence and claims costs through health management, a business logic that aligns closely with the core requirements of Healthy China. He explained that in recent years, PICC has pioneered a new "insurance + health services + technology" business model, using health management services as a key method for risk reduction. The company has built a service network covering over 10,000 hospitals, 230,000 pharmacies, 2,500 health check-up centers, and nearly 1,000 nursing institutions. It has established a health management service system comprising 8 major categories and 30 products, providing health management solutions to 400,000 corporate clients and health management services to more than 100 million individuals. Zhao Peng stated that the next steps involve deepening the integration of health insurance and health management, shifting health insurance from traditional post-event claims compensation to a full-process model encompassing pre-event prevention, during-event intervention, and post-event compensation. PICC will create an integrated online and offline service matrix to help the public transition from passive medical treatment to proactive health management. It will also enhance the quality and efficiency of technology empowerment, accelerating the application and promotion of big data and artificial intelligence in health management to evolve from passive response to active protection.