Aggressive and hardworking” while “abusing the lump-sum hospitalization payment”..! Chinese sales staffs of major life insurers: “A drastic increase in the number of Chinese sales staffs”.

The number of Chinese salespeople is increasing at major Japanese life insurance companies. Following Part I, which revealed that Chinese salespeople account for 70% of the workforce at some sales offices, Part II will introduce the advantages and disadvantages of the increase in Chinese salespeople.

Part I: Some sales offices are seeing a rapid increase in the number of Chinese salespeople, who now account for 70% of the workforce! Chinese sales staff in life insurance companies

How do life insurance companies view the dramatic increase in the number of Chinese employees? A Japanese employee at one sales office commented , “Chinese employees are generally aggressive and hardworking. Although some Japanese employees do not, many Chinese are energetic, and this has a “positive impact” on the entire sales office, he said.

A Japanese who works for another life insurance company also shared the following story as one of the “good things about the increase in the number of Chinese employees.

The director of the office was happy to hear that his salary has gone up because Chinese people are actively working and getting contracts. There are some Japanese who do not like the fact that there are too many Chinese in the sales office, but I think the industry as a whole sees it as a good thing to have more Chinese employees with sales ability.

Insurance products are being discontinued.

But it is not only on the positive side. A Japanese employee in an in-house position is concerned about their “awareness of compliance. The number of cases of misuse of the lump-sum hospitalization payment is now slowly increasing, and it is becoming an internal problem. Most Chinese work diligently with a positive attitude as mentioned above. On the other hand, some of them are experiencing the following problems.

In the past few years, there have been a string of cases where a customer (life insurance policyholder) has submitted a hospital certificate saying, ‘I have returned to China for a long vacation and have been hospitalized,’ and has demanded payment of the insurance claim. This has even led to the suspension of the sale of one insurance product” (Japanese national mentioned above).

According to the Asahi Shimbun (March 29, 2026), the number of cases of people claiming lump-sum hospitalization payments under their medical insurance policies for being hospitalized in China has increased rapidly at several life insurance companies. The name of the illness is often gastroenteritis, and the life insurers believe that many of the hospitalizations are “unnecessary” for the purpose of lump-sum payments.

Lump-sum hospitalization benefits are paid in a lump sum when a person is hospitalized for illness or injury, regardless of the number of days of hospitalization. Depending on the life insurance company, the amount paid ranges from 50,000 yen to 300,000 yen. According to the same report, one life insurance company reported that the number of cases in China in FY2022 was about 650, but in FY2024, the number was about 13,000, a 20-fold increase in two years. The hospitalizations were concentrated at several specific medical institutions, and the majority of the cases were for gastroenteritis, which is said to be basically treated at home in many cases.

Unnecessary hospitalization for the purpose of lump-sum payments is believed to be increasing, and several life insurance companies have begun tightening their screening procedures, while the Financial Services Agency is also working to understand the actual situation.

Chinese life insurance salespeople, while making a significant contribution to the company, also pose a risk of trouble. The response of Japanese life insurance companies is being questioned.