(Yicai Global) July 18 -- The Chinese government is reintroducing the qualification process for actuaries, which are professionals who assess risks using data analysis and other techniques, in order to plug a gap in the market after the exams were suspended in 2014.

The insurance sector has called for the resumption of the exams because actuaries, which play a key role in insurance, risk management, social guarantees and other fields, are in short supply, Yicai Global has learned.

The exams, which will be held between Oct. 21 and Oct. 25 this year, are considered to be of a high level of difficulty, and pave the way for graduates to hold core positions at insurance companies.

Actuaries are regarded as high-grade and specialized talent and there are two stages in the qualification process. Applicants must first qualify as actuaries-to-be before they can become a formal actuary, according to two documents released by the National Administration of Financial Regulation and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security yesterday.

Previously, actuaries could only specialize in two areas, namely life insurance and non-life insurance, but this time regulators have added five more fields to better meet the demands of the industry. These are health insurance, social security and pension plans, financial risks management, assets management and data science.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor