Insurance aim for 2020

China aims to establish a modern commercial health insurance industry by 2020, as part of the country's broad-based efforts to boost its insurance sector, according to a statement posted on the central government's website on Monday.

In the statement, the State Council encourages commercial insurance institutions to actively develop an enriched portfolio of commercial health insurance products targeting different market segments, among a slew of incentive measures designed for expedited development of the sector.

The Monday statement came after the State Council's release of guidelines in August with the goal of propelling insurance to play a basic role in controlling risks and managing the assets of the government, enterprises and regular citizens.

Commercial insurance serves as an important pillar of social security for individuals and households, according to the guidelines.