Currently, China's insurance legal services sector is undergoing a profound transformation. The emergence of new business models has led to a surge in various new risks, and legal issues such as consumer rights protection, compliance governance, and claims disputes are becoming increasingly prominent. Concurrently, as Chinese enterprises accelerate their international expansion, complex international regulatory environments, frequent cross-border claims disputes, and conflicts in the application of laws have led to a continuous stream of cross-border insurance-related issues. These multiple risks call for higher requirements for professional, efficient, and trustworthy insurance legal services.
To deeply explore cutting-edge issues in insurance legal services and gather industry wisdom to face challenges together, the "Trust and Protection—Insurance Legal Services Salon," part of the LEXPRESS 2025 Series Research, was successfully held on August 14. The event was hosted by LEXPRESS and co-organized by Llinks Law Offices. The salon brought together senior lawyers with profound knowledge and rich experience in the insurance legal field to focus on practical hot topics and pain points. They shared valuable experience and forward-looking ideas accumulated from handling complex cases, and jointly discussed innovative solutions for insurance legal services.
Leveraging Momentum for a Broad Vision: Anchoring the New Ecosystem of Insurance Law
In recent years, the function of insurance lawyers has been undergoing a strategic upgrade—from traditional dispute resolution to risk architecture design. The core value of this transformation lies in redefining the boundaries of rights and responsibilities through clause innovation, avoiding judicial conflicts through jurisdiction agreements, and solidifying the basis for claims through evidence management, thereby systematically embedding legal solutions. This salon focused on hot topics and difficult points in insurance practice, gathered industry wisdom, and explored feasible paths and best practices for high-quality insurance legal services through case analysis and experience sharing.
Mr. Christopher Han, founding partner and chairman of the management committee of Llinks.
In his opening speech, Mr. Christopher Han, founding partner and chairman of the management committee of Llinks, thanked the guests for their attendance. Mr. Han stated that insurance legal services have entered a new, deeper stage. Mr. Han expressed that, in addition to specializing in their professional fields, lawyers must also focus on industry-specific trends. Only by deeply understanding the characteristics of the insurance industry can they provide high-value and cost-effective services. Mr. Han emphasized that this is the core foundation for lawyers to continuously expand their business space in segmented areas. In recent years, the insurance industry has undergone significant changes, expanding from traditional products, sales, compliance, and claims to new areas such as data services, cross-border products, and insurance asset management. Under the new regulatory landscape, the role of insurance institutions in economic recovery, consumption stimulation, and support for the real economy has become increasingly prominent, leading to a large number of industry-specific topics and legal issues. Mr. Han stressed that this salon provides a professional platform to build industry consensus, and he looks forward to guests contributing insights and ideas to jointly explore the industry's cutting edge.
Ms. Fengmei Wang, Founder & CEO of LEXPRESS
Founder & CEO of LEXPRESS Ms. Fengmei Wang pointed out that China's insurance premium income has exceeded 5 trillion yuan, but disputes in new business models have surged. Ms. Wang also mentioned that the director and supervisor liability insurance system established by the new Company Law will lead to new types of litigation, green insurance has unique opportunities under the "dual carbon" goals, and the fifth revision of the Insurance Law focuses on practical pain points, demonstrating a reform direction that balances efficiency with consumer protection. Ms. Wang also stated that this reform reflects the market's resilience and adaptability in a complex environment. At this critical juncture of the intersection of the insurance industry's transformation and its legal development, this salon attempts to break the traditional research model by facilitating intellectual exchange between litigation and non-litigation lawyers, connecting the needs of insurance institutions with legal services, and enabling the passing down of experience from senior to younger lawyers. Upholding the original goal of making excellent legal services more tangible and accessible, LEXPRESS launched the "LEXPRESS Luminary Lawyers 20: Insurance " research salon. This salon, as part of the annual list research, aims to gain accurate insights into cutting-edge trends, break down information barriers, and promote industry collaboration to build a healthy legal services ecosystem, providing practical support for the optimization of the insurance legal field report. In addition to insurance, the " LEXPRESS Luminary Lawyers 20" series launched by LEXPRESS this year also covers multiple business areas, including enforcement, government legal affairs, labor law, marriage and family law, tax, intellectual property, and dispute resolution, to continuously promote the professional and brand development of legal services and the construction of an industry trust system.
Intellectual Exchange: Deconstructing Real Issues in Insurance Practice
Around key topics such as complex compliance challenges under the new regulatory environment, practical analysis of frequently occurring hot-spot disputes, and forward-looking risk prevention for innovative businesses, the participating guests engaged in brilliant experience sharing and in-depth discussions.
Mr. Yi Wang, managing partner of Llinks Beijing Office
Llinks Beijing Office managing partner Mr. Yi Wang focused his presentation on the new trends in insurance fund equity investment. Mr. Wang shared the latest industry data and analyzed several changes based on the "Notice on Major Equity Investments in Unlisted Enterprises by Insurance Funds" issued by the National Financial Regulatory Administration. First, the scope for determining control has been expanded to include control or joint control by insurance institutions and their affiliates over an invested enterprise as a major equity investment. Second, the principle of a look-through review is established, requiring indirect investments through SPVs, private equity funds, etc., to be approved if they constitute control or joint control. Third, the scope of investment industries has been adjusted, with "technology" and "big data industries" added, while categories such as energy, resources, and new commercial trade and distribution have been deleted. He also reminded the audience to pay attention to new changes, such as investment tier limits and requirements for existing investments. Mr. Wang emphasized that the new regulations, by strengthening the principle of "substance over form," reflect a trend of stricter regulation in the insurance industry.
Mr. Bing Yan, director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association and partner at AnJie Broad.
Mr. Bing Yan, director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association and partner at AnJie Broad, discussed whether commercial insurance and consumer insurance need different regulations. Mr. Yan believes that the two types of insurance differ in risk nature, the status of transaction parties, and information symmetry. In commercial insurance contracts, the parties are relatively equal, and the insurer does not necessarily have an advantage in identifying the subject matter and risks. While regulations on products and marketing are continuously being improved, there is a lack of necessary distinction in the legal norms of insurance contracts. In contrast, international practices, especially British law, have relatively mature legislation and judicial practice. Citing the special regulations in Chapter 12 of the Maritime Law as an example, Mr. Yan compared them with the corresponding systems in Chapter 2 of the Insurance Law to further illustrate his points. Mr. Yan proposed that, at the level of contract interpretation, the generalization of consumer insurance clauses should be avoided, and the application of the unfavorable interpretation principle could be limited at the judicial level to respect professional consensus. Mr. Yan also called on peers to drive rule evolution in case handling and return to the essence of commercial insurance as "risk consideration".
Mr. Xiaofeng Yu, partner at Shanghai SGLA Law Firm
Shanghai SGLA Law Firm partner Mr. Xiaofeng Yu shared practical insights on three hot-spot insurance legal disputes: the standard for inventory loss assessment, the calculation method for the under-insurance ratio, and the establishment of insurance liability when a policy's standards for natural disasters are higher than national standards. Mr. Yu pointed out that inventory claims should follow the "same standard"—if the valuation at the time of insurance was at market price, the compensation should be at market price; if it was at cost price, the compensation should be at cost price. If the contract is unclear, courts tend to adopt an interpretation that is favorable to the insured. Regarding the under-insurance ratio, it should be determined by comparing the replacement value of all insured items with the insured amount, distinguishing between "as-is" and "new" replacement values, to avoid misjudgment. Regarding policies that set standards for natural disasters like blizzards and landslides higher than national standards, Mr. Yu argued that the standard set by the policy could be claimed to be invalid from the perspective of the insurer intentionally restricting liability. He reminded insurance companies to be rigorous and predictable when revising clauses and advised policyholders to pay attention to the loss assessment standard, whether the insured amount covers all items, and the interpretation of clauses to reduce disputes from the source.
Mr. Xianlin Xie, founder & CEO of Homelegal
Founder & CEO of Homelegal Mr. Xianlin Xie proposed a "law + insurance" integrated innovation business model and shared the group's exploration and core practices in this area. Homelegal has been deeply involved in this field for over a decade, providing comprehensive legal and tax support to financial institutions like insurance companies and banks, while also creating tailored and flexible insurance products and legal and tax service solutions for individuals and corporate clients. Mr. Xie introduced a variety of products, such as legal expense compensation insurance, scenario-based internet legal insurance (e.g., privacy infringement insurance, legal liability insurance for international students), government legal aid insurance, and a consumer protection intelligent agent. Mr. Xie emphasized that, in terms of insurance AI, Homelegal will deepen its data engine development to provide intelligent solutions for pain points like misleading sales and clause disputes, promoting the industry's shift from single-product innovation to a legal insurance ecosystem.
Ms. Lina Liu, deputy director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association and partner at Shanghai Boss & Young Law Firm.
Ms. Lina Liu, deputy director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association and partner at Shanghai Boss & Young Law Firm, discussed the drafting and improvement of non-standard insurance clauses. Ms. Liu pointed out that non-standard insurance clauses are a critical topic for insurance operations and a high-dispute area. Attention should be paid to issues such as specific wording, understandable language, unambiguous meaning, quantifiable operations, consistent systems, and alignment between Chinese and English texts. Ms. Liu suggested that clauses on establishment and effectiveness must accurately match payment and insurance periods to avoid disputes over "premiums paid but policy not effective". Guarantee and exclusion clauses should list specific actions and legal consequences, and cited regulations must be specific to the articles. She reminded that when an insurer adds special agreements outside of the filed text, it should review conflicts with boilerplate clauses and use a visual summary to confirm each item with the policyholder, both to uphold the compliance bottom line and to reduce litigation risks.
Mr. Wenzheng Chang, director of the Insurance Professional Committee of Shanghai Duan & Duan Law Firm and deputy director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shandong Bar Association.
Mr. Wenzheng Chang, director of the Insurance Professional Committee of Shanghai Duan & Duan Law Firm and deputy director of the Insurance Professional Committee of the Shandong Bar Association, shared his experience in handling fire insurance disputes based on extensive experience in representing property insurance cases for enterprises. He analyzed that fire accidents are frequent in China and are characterized by suddenness, great destructiveness, ephemeral evidence, complex losses, and multiple responsible parties, which leads to many difficulties in handling fire insurance cases. To achieve good results, it is crucial to thoroughly handle the "fact-finding," "liability-clarifying," and "loss-calculating" aspects. He emphasized that lawyers should have a holistic perspective, coordinate and advance claims and subrogation simultaneously; continuously learn and master cross-disciplinary knowledge in fire protection, construction, and accounting; have a strong sense of evidence, and cultivate the habit of "handling cases with a magnifying glass"; and adhere to the principle of "professionals doing professional things" by leveraging expert assistance to overcome difficulties and minimize uncertain risks through teamwork and technological means.
Ms. Yanan Wu, partner at DeHeng Law Offices Shanghai Office
Ms. Yanan Wu, partner at DeHeng Law Offices Shanghai Office, shared her insights on insurance subrogation and liability insurance defenses. She believes that subrogation work needs to be "front-loaded" to the claims stage: claims, legal, business, and appraisal teams should work in synergy to clarify facts and lock down evidence as early as possible to avoid the difficulty of supplementing evidence later. Liability insurance is an "entry point" for lawyers to expand their business: new risks such as product liability, D&O, logistics, survey and design, storage, and public liability are emerging continuously. Lawyers must be familiar with the industry and underlying legal relationships to handle cases properly. She believes that both subrogation and liability insurance cases are affected by multiple factors, and lawyers should cultivate a craftsman-like character with a long-term perspective, strive for professional excellence, and use their professional and comprehensive case-handling abilities to offset litigation uncertainty and continuously improve by doing each case well.
Mr. Guosong Shi, partner at Beijing Weihang (Shanghai) Law Firm
Beijing Weihang (Shanghai) Law Firm partner Mr. Guosong Shi discussed hot legal issues in cross-border insurance disputes. He pointed out that with the increase in geopolitical conflicts, there is a growing demand for war risk insurance, but war risk policies also have a series of underwriting conditions, including cancellation and automatic termination clauses and exclusion clauses. In practice, disputes often arise over the interpretation and application of these clauses. In addition, international sanctions triggered by war have become a new challenge for insurance claims. The insurance industry is currently mitigating overseas sanction risks by introducing "sanctions limitation and exclusion clauses," but how these clauses are understood and applied under Chinese law remains to be seen. At the same time, Chinese insurance institutions in cross-border insurance business face both sanctions exclusion defenses from the direct insurance end and recourse risks from the reinsurance end due to sanctions exclusion, which requires attention from the industry. Finally, Mr. Guosong Shi discussed war risk and sanctions issues in cross-border insurance disputes by citing specific cases, and offered advice on preventing legal risks from the perspectives of dynamic review of underwriting risks, improving the design of exclusion clauses, and establishing a sanction screening mechanism.
Building the Future Together: Constructing a New Paradigm of Trust and Protection
In the Q&A session, guests had an in-depth discussion on widely watched topics such as the value proposition of insurance lawyers, business refinement, embracing legal technology, and building an industry community.
Mr. Bing Yan believes that professional segmentation is an urgent necessity. He pointed out that insurance lawyers are currently facing the dilemma of being "generalists but not specialists"—knowledge barriers exist in segmented areas such as transactions, litigation, and asset management. He said there is a need to further focus on specific scenarios within the insurance value chain, such as the funding side/liability side, to achieve differentiated professional specialization.
Mr. Xiaofeng Yu believes that insurance legal services can try to embrace AI technology, use AI to map industry risks, and break out of homogeneous competition with "professional depth × technological efficiency" to jointly build an insurance legal ecosystem.
In a lively atmosphere, the LEXPRESS 2025 Series Research "Trust and Protection—Insurance Legal Services Salon" concluded successfully. In the future, Llinks will continue to work with LEXPRESS to build a professional exchange platform, gather industry consensus, explore innovative paths, and help the legal ecosystem build a more solid trust system and risk prevention capabilities.
