PREMIUM growth of property and casualty insurance in China may slow down along with the country's cooler economic growth, but deregulation methods in the auto insurance sector may come as a boost, an industry report showed today.

Growth of property and casualty premium is likely to slow to 10 to 15 percent in 2012 from around 18 percent in the previous years, Moody's Investors Service said in a report.

The slowdown echoes Moody's forecast for China's gross domestic growth to increase 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent this year, down from 9 percent in 2011.

But the report said that premium growth of motor insurance will be a highlight powered by a possible modest rebound of auto sales in 2012. Hopes on the sector are also lifted by indications that the insurance regulator may loosen its grip on the pricing of auto insurance products.

Source:shanghaidaily