Robots also need to get a "accident insurance" policy

Stage shows: robots rotate and jump; in ordinary households, an “elder and a child” have a smart little assistant by their side; on factory production lines, precise operations are handled with absolute control…… In recent years, embodied intelligence robots have moved into more and more production and living scenarios, and demand for risk coverage has grown accordingly. Recently, multiple insurance companies have successively launched dedicated insurance products targeting risks in the R&D and production of embodied robots and risks in scenario applications. What situations can these insurance products provide coverage for? What role do they play in promoting the rollout of robot products and the development of the industry? Reporters recently conducted interviews.

Insurance provides services for the entire chain of the embodied intelligence industry

Not long ago, Robot 6S stores in Shenzhen, Guangdong expanded and upgraded, and immersive experiences featuring ever-new robots attracted many customers.

“From the former massage, moxibustion, and making coffee on the spot, to brand-new brain-control experiences, human-robot chess, and conversation and interaction, to robot boxing matches and human-robot coordinated battles—‘everything is integrated here, including robot sales, accessories, after-sales service, as well as leasing and personalized customization. Users can directly experience the robot’s motion and interaction capabilities, etc. Through scenario-based displays, the store helps match supply and demand efficiently.’ Store manager Lin Feng said.

But as robots achieve broader scenario applications, certain risks have emerged: during interactive demonstrations, robots may cause personal injury and property loss to third parties, and on-site staff may also suffer accidental injuries in exhibition setup, commissioning, and maintenance and operations.

Who bears these risks? “We customize exclusive insurance方案 (insurance plans). We provide coverage for losses caused by robots in the venue to third parties, and we can also provide additional coverage based on the store’s differentiated risk-coverage needs, ensuring that the new business format can provide open experiences while keeping risks under control.” Shi Hequn, General Director of the Group Business Division at Ping An Property & Casualty Insurance, said.

From exhibitions and sales, to experiences, to use, and then to front-end R&D, pilot production, and other links, insurance is providing diversified and tailored services for the development of the embodied intelligence industry.

A financial director at a robotics company, Zhang Hao, said that the R&D of one of the company’s new robots for elder care was interrupted, and the roughly CNY 2 million in initial investment faced the risk of “going down the drain,” but the insurance provided a certain amount of economic compensation.

A person in charge of a company using electric power inspection robots said that the cost to purchase a single robot is around CNY 300k. The company took out property insurance covering the robot itself: “The money for repairing the robot has a place to come from.”

Insiders say that for users, when a robot is underwritten by insurance, it is also a “health check report” of its reliability. In fields such as medical care, logistics, and public services, robots with insurance coverage have higher market acceptance and shorter procurement decision cycles. And based on international market experience, robot products often need to be “insured” before they can be practically applied.

Zhang Chunquan, an official with a person-involved in De Yi Robot Company, believes that the insurance industry working together to build a good ecosystem is conducive to robots entering the market, entering real-world scenarios, and going overseas.

Insurance helps businesses innovate, such as covering losses in R&D expenses and failure in achievement transformation

The “China Development Report 2025” released by the Development Research Center of the State Council shows that China’s embodied intelligence industry is in an early stage. The market size is expected to reach CNY 400 billion by 2030 and surpass CNY 1 trillion by 2035, and will further elevate application fields such as transportation and logistics, industrial manufacturing, and commercial services. As robots move into more open and more complex scenarios, the insurance industry faces new challenges.

“From the process of moving robots from experimental verification to test lines, and then to large-scale mass production and commercial operations, companies urgently need to put risk management upfront.” Shi Hequn said. Insurance institutions should help companies improve mechanisms such as operational standards, on-site management, safety inspections, and emergency response and handling.

To support R&D innovation by enterprises, insurance has already begun to play a role. In Guangdong, People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) Property & Casualty’s “Zhi Yan Bao” includes technology solution planning and raw material defects in the coverage scope, providing a complete lifecycle risk shield across the entire chain—from R&D, through small-scale trials, to pilot production—for enterprises, better reducing direct losses caused by R&D failure.

“Insurance that covers losses in R&D expenses, failure of achievement transformation, and the like can reduce economic losses caused by unexpected project stoppages or interruptions, helping enterprises focus more on R&D innovation activities and giving them ‘confidence to clear the hurdles’ and ‘ability to pass them.’” Wei Li, Director of the China Insurance Research Institute at Renmin University of China, said.

Insiders say that as remote operation and maintenance and cloud-based control technology are promoted, network security, data security, and system stability have become important prerequisites for the large-scale application of robots. In response, an official with PICC Property & Casualty said the company will further improve the digital security insurance product system, and it has also introduced a comprehensive insurance for embodied intelligence robots, covering network security and system crashes.

Considering the characteristics of multiple intertwined risks—such as robot hardware failures and algorithm defects, as well as operational mistakes and network attacks—multiple insurance institutions say they will continue to improve one-stop comprehensive insurance solutions.

The embodied intelligence industry iterates quickly and scenarios are new. For insurance innovation, challenges include insufficient data and difficulties in pricing.

“We should start from platform co-building and data sharing, to create a good ecosystem for insurance innovation.” Wei Li believes that products could be explored that dynamically supplement data and flexibly adjust premium rates, and that underwriting risks could be diversified and underwriting capacity improved through reinsurance, co-insurance pools, and risk securitization.

Expanding the coverage scope through technology insurance

Insuring robots is also a reflection of how the insurance industry provides high-level service to China’s technological self-reliance and self-strengthening and helps develop new quality productive forces: smart assisted driving moves onto the “fast track,” and many insurance firms have launched assisted-driving coverage services; the low-altitude economy and commercial space are building momentum to take off—new insurance products such as aviation product liability insurance and detection equipment loss compensation insurance have also been introduced……

The “14th Five-Year Plan” outline and “15th Five-Year Plan” proposals state that a science and technology insurance policy framework should be established and technology insurance products should be enriched. “Technology insurance continuously expands its coverage scope, and has initially formed a multi-tier insurance product system covering innovation throughout the entire cycle, including project initiation and R&D, achievement transformation, and industrialization and promotion.” Zhao Yulong, Chairman of the China Insurance Industry Association, said. Data show that during the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, technology insurance cumulatively provided risk coverage exceeding CNY 10 trillion.

The risk structures of emerging industries and future industries are complex and changeable, and there is insufficient accumulation of risk data—this is the difficulty in promoting high-quality development of technology insurance. How can we keep the momentum going to crack the problem and clear the hurdles?

Wei Li believes that insurance institutions should speed up exploration of the application of technologies such as artificial intelligence, and focus on developing specialized talent and building dedicated institutions.

“Financial institutions, technology enterprises, research universities and colleges, and others can co-build risk and insurance laboratories to enhance capabilities in accident mechanism analysis, scenario assessment, and model verification.” Wang Xiangnan, a researcher at the Institute of Finance at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said. In the claims settlement process, for scenarios where insurance conditions are mature, an automatic trigger, verification, and advance payment mechanism based on Internet of Things data and rule engines can be promoted to improve service efficiency.

Improving the quality and efficiency of technology insurance also requires a favorable policy environment.

“To reduce enterprises’ financial burdens and increase willingness to purchase insurance, and to promote the rollout of insurance tools, we could provide certain premium subsidies for relevant technology insurance products, or study related preferential tax policies. Through fiscal and tax and financial coordination, we can enhance the effective use of government funds and better play the supporting role for technology innovation.” Wei Li suggested.

Source: People’s Daily

Author: Qu Xinming