TIANJIN — China's agricultural insurance market has posted robust growth in the past few years with wider coverage and more premium income, said an official with China's top banking and insurance regulator on Jan 11.

The sum insured in 2019 reached 3.6 trillion yuan (about $519.1 billion), ranking first in Asia and second in the world, said Liang Tao, vice-chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) at a forum in Tianjin.

Agricultural insurance premiums were expected to reach 68 billion yuan, as compared with only 5.18 billion yuan in 2007, according to Liang.

A total of 360 million rural households have received over 240 billion yuan of insurance indemnity since 2008.

The CBIRC will further encourage the development of new agricultural insurance products and the application of new technology in the sector, said Liang.

Agricultural insurance in China covers possible losses in yield or quality of more than 270 kinds of crops due to natural disasters, plant diseases and pests, and other risks.