GAO: China Responds To Insurer Concerns

By Allison Bell

October 06, 2004 at 08:00 PM

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China has been handling insurance trade compliance issues reasonably well.[@@]

That's the assessment of a team of researchers at the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

The team, led by Loren Yager, the GAO's international affairs director, reviewed the state of U.S.-China trade relations for the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.

In 2003, China responded to complaints from U.S. insurers by easing capitalization requirements for new insurance ventures in China and lifting certain geographic restrictions on insurance companies ahead of schedule, Yager writes in a letter describing the GAO trade review team's findings.

But the U.S. agencies responsible for supervising China's compliance with its trade commitments have increased the number of staff members monitoring the situation in recent years, but the agencies experience heavy turnover and rely largely on on-the-job training to bring new staff members up to speed, Yager writes.

"Increased management attention to providing an adequate mix of [on-the-job] and formal training can help ensure that new employees have the necessary tools for doing their jobs well," Yager concludes.

The GAO has posted the China trade compliance report on the Web at //www.gao.gov/new.items/d0553.pdf

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