(Yicai) Feb. 7 -- Shanghai's insurers earned CNY5.1 billion (USD690 million) in technology insurance premiums and provided risk guarantees worth over CNY25 trillion (USD3.4 trillion) last year, supporting the eastern city's development as a global science and technology hub.

Nearly all risk guarantees were tied to companies' scientific and technological activities, the municipal financial regulatory bureau said in a report published yesterday. Of the total, CNY1.5 trillion was linked to research and development, result transformation, and application promotion.

Last December, Shanghai unveiled its first catalog of technology-focused insurance products, targeting three key industries: integrated circuits, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence. The catalog covers six risk categories: scientific R&D, result transformation, application promotion, intellectual property, overseas risks, and stable operations. It includes a list of 174 insurance products.

Several areas of technology insurance saw double-digit growth in 2024. The number of entrepreneurs covered by cybersecurity insurance and startup liability insurance rose by 16 percent and 49 percent, respectively. Moreover, the number of enterprises and projects covered by biomedicine liability insurance increased by 22 percent.

Insurance innovation is increasingly linked to technology. Shanghai's insurers have pioneered several industry firsts, including the nation's first patent overseas deployment expense loss insurance, which covers risks in international patent filings, and the country's first global energy storage system loss compensation liability insurance, which protects against financial losses and liabilities in energy storage systems.

Going forward, the bureau will guide Shanghai's insurance industry to broaden insurable risks, enhance risk management, and strengthen professional capabilities to support innovation.

Editor: Emmi Laine