A representative of the government of Qidong, a county-level city in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province, shakes hands with a representative of an insurance company at a signing ceremony held in Qidong city’s administration center, on Dec 29. [Photo/WeChat account of Qidong Daily]

The government of Qidong, a county-level city in Nantong, East China’s Jiangsu province, bought public security insurance for its residents in partnership with four insurance companies, at a ceremony held at the city’s comprehensive administration center, on Dec 29, 2018. 

A total of 1.2 million local residents, be they natives of Qidong or some other city, will receive the insurance, which cost the government 2 million yuan ($290,901). 

Qidong became the first city in Jiangsu province to buy such insurance for its residents. 

The move came amid local residents’ increased need for a public safety net against third party risks. Through rounds of investigation conducted by a panel organized by the local government, five varieties of insurance were created to minimize the loss to local residents in the case of five types of risk events. 

The five types of insurance were designed to compensate the people who suffer after providing the police clues of criminal activity; people who get hurt by a group of people; people who get hurt by patients with mental disorders; house renters and victims of robbery. 

Among the five categories of insurance, two were invented by the Qidong government -  insurance protecting the legal rights of people who provide police with clues, and insurance protecting local residents who get hurt from social security accidents. 

The four insurance companies that teamed up with the Qidong government to create the insurance policy were the Qidong branch of the People’s Insurance Company of China, Qidong branch of Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Qidong branch of China Pacific Property Insurance Company and the Qidong branch of China Life Insurance Company.