Pioneering the "One-Person Company" | Multiple regions issue policies to seize OPC opportunities, highlighting the insurance industry's risk mitigation value

Ask AI · How should the insurance industry innovate to meet the needs of new OPC risks?

Report by Fan Hongmin, China Economic Net, Beijing

Policies supporting the development of OPC (one-person companies) are being intensively introduced nationwide.

The China Business Journal reporter noted that among the policies supporting OPC development in various regions, some support insurance institutions to provide suitable insurance products for OPC enterprises, or guide insurance funds to enter the market to inject financial “fresh water” into OPC development. The insurance industry has become an important foundational financial tool for local support of OPC industry development.

“Policies supporting OPC development across regions frequently mention insurance-related content. Essentially, this is about solving early-stage development pain points of OPC through risk coverage, filling the financial service gaps of new entrepreneurial forms, and building a virtuous ecosystem of ‘risk protection + entrepreneurial support.’ It is a precise measure for the government to guide market resources to empower new productive forces,” said Guo Jinlong, director of the Insurance and Economic Development Research Center at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in an interview.

Insurance has become an indispensable infrastructure for OPC industry development

According to the reporter’s review, at least several provincial or municipal policies supporting OPC development—such as those in Hubei Province, Wuhan City, Wenzhou City, Ningbo City, Chengdu City, Dongguan City—have mentioned the insurance industry.

In terms of insurance services, for example, the “Chengdu Artificial Intelligence OPC Innovation Development New High Ground Action Plan (2026–2027)” mentions guiding technology insurance institutions to provide tech insurance services for OPC enterprises, encouraging insurance companies to innovate and develop insurance products tailored for OPCs, and focusing on enhancing enterprises’ risk resistance. The “Ningbo Support for Artificial Intelligence OPC Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Opinions” proposes that OPCs starting businesses in Ningbo can voluntarily purchase “Entrepreneurship Insurance,” which can provide up to 20,000 yuan in basic startup compensation and up to 40,000 yuan in employment-driven compensation if the startup fails.

In guiding insurance funds into the market, policies like the “Several Measures to Support the Accelerated Development of New OPC Models” issued by the Hubei Provincial Data Bureau promote models such as “investment-loan linkage” and “insurance linkage,” guiding banks, insurance, and venture capital institutions to jointly provide diversified financing services.

“OPC features lightweight assets, lack of substantial capital reserves, weak risk resistance, and high uncertainty in early R&D and operations. Entrepreneurs and investors generally have risk concerns, but insurance intervention can effectively disperse risks and boost market confidence, clearing obstacles for OPC development,” Guo Jinlong said. From the policy layouts related to OPC in various regions, it is clear that insurance has become an indispensable infrastructure for OPC industry development.

“Many policies actively guide insurance services and funds into the market. On one hand, insurance can play the role of ‘two instruments’—enhancing credit or providing guarantees for some risks of OPCs, thus safeguarding the entire AI innovation chain; on the other hand, it can guide financial resources to ‘invest early and small,’ solving the financing issues of startups,” said Zhou Jin, partner at Tianzhi International Financial Industry Consulting.

Notably, the reporter observed that many policies encourage and support insurance institutions to innovate insurance products and services to meet OPC needs. Phrases like “seed investment insurance,” “seed project investment insurance,” “immediate insurance upon investment,” “insurance linkage,” and “insurance loan” frequently appear.

“OPC’s ‘one person + AI’ unique operation mode has completely overturned traditional enterprise risk structures, demanding comprehensive and differentiated new risk protection from the insurance industry,” Guo Jinlong said.

In Guo Jinlong’s view, the differentiated service needs of the OPC industry mainly include the following aspects: first, full-scenario, full-cycle exclusive risk protection needs. OPCs focus on AI R&D, data application, technological achievement transformation, cross-border expansion, etc., facing risks such as R&D expense losses, failure of achievement transformation, data security breaches, intellectual property infringement, overseas trade credit risks, and bankruptcy liquidation costs. Traditional enterprise insurance cannot cover these segmented scenarios, requiring the development of targeted insurance products. Second, lightweight and inclusive service demands. Since OPC entities are single and have limited operational costs, they reject complex insurance processes, high premiums, and cumbersome claims procedures, necessitating low-threshold, online, modular insurance products and services. Lastly, integrated needs for investment, financing, and insurance collaboration. OPC development heavily relies on financing, and entrepreneurs need to deeply link insurance protection with financing and investment, using insurance to enhance credit and form a closed loop of “protection promoting financing, financing supporting development.”

Bringing broad incremental markets to the insurance industry

On the market level, innovative insurance service cases empowering OPC development have been implemented.

For example, on February 12, the Wujiang District Talent Office and Market Supervision Bureau of Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, collaborated with Suzhou PICC Property & Casualty Insurance to launch the country’s first OPC ecosystem service chain data insurance. The insurance package covers data infringement loss insurance and data asset entry cost loss insurance, covering the entire process of data rights confirmation, registration, protection, and transformation, achieving “rights confirmation with guarantees, entry with guarantees, infringement compensation,” effectively reducing enterprise rights protection costs and trial-and-error risks.

Recently, with the promotion of the Shenzhen Luohu District Financial Services Office, District Science and Industrial Information Bureau, and Shenzhen PICC Property & Casualty Insurance, Shenzhen’s first technology enterprise bankruptcy cost loss insurance—“Startup Peace of Mind Insurance”—was officially issued in Luohu.

“The rapid rise of OPC has brought broad incremental markets to the insurance industry,” Guo Jinlong said. On one hand, the OPC population continues to grow, covering high-potential sectors such as AI, AIGC, digital creativity, and technological services, with rigid and diverse segmented protection needs. Products like R&D expense loss insurance, data insurance, export credit insurance, and startup bankruptcy protection insurance all have huge market potential. On the other hand, many regions have introduced policies with premium subsidies and risk compensation incentives, reducing the operational costs and underwriting risks for insurers, providing policy dividends for entering the OPC track. Additionally, OPCs have high growth potential; early-stage insurance services can lock in quality clients, and as companies grow, long-term business can be expanded. Furthermore, the long-term investment nature of insurance funds aligns well with OPCs’ long-term development needs, enabling dual deployment of protection services and capital investment, creating new growth points.

“From an insurance perspective, OPCs have enormous incremental risk protection needs, including risks of technological R&D failure, achievement transformation uncertainty, data assets and digital economy business model risks, specific liability risks of AI technology and products, and founder integrity and corporate compliance risks. These emerging risks are new business areas for the insurance industry and an important direction for seeking incremental business beyond existing stock competition,” Zhou Jin also said.

However, Zhou Jin also pointed out that the OPC model is a highly digitalized and decentralized new enterprise form and agile business mode, still in its infancy. It presents systemic challenges to traditional enterprises and related financial and insurance services, requiring gradual exploration and trial-and-error.

“OPC breaks traditional organizational structures, operational logic, and risk characteristics, posing unprecedented challenges to risk identification, risk control systems, product pricing, and compliance management in the insurance industry,” Guo Jinlong said.

Guo Jinlong believes that facing the new demands and challenges of OPC, insurance companies need to conduct systematic innovation in product design, risk control models, and compliance frameworks, building a comprehensive insurance protection network precisely suited for OPC development.

Regarding the construction of compliance frameworks, Guo Jinlong suggests thoroughly studying data security laws, personal information protection laws, and OPC-related support policies to ensure compliance throughout product design, underwriting, and claims processes; clarifying insurance liability boundaries, refining new risk claim standards to avoid compliance disputes; strengthening coordination with market supervision, data authorities, and financial regulators, keeping up with policy updates, optimizing compliance procedures, and establishing specialized compliance review mechanisms for AI insurance businesses to prevent the accumulation of technical and compliance risks.

(Editors: Li Hui; Review: He Shasha; Proofreading: Zhai Jun)