Since its reform, China has begun to gradually decrease direct social security protection and insurance has become necessary to many citizens who find themselves without the government’s social security coverage. On January 1, 1984, People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) was re-established and supervised by the People’s Bank of China as an independent insurance company.            

The establishment of Shenzhen Ping, an insurance company in Shenzhen, ended the PICC’s monopoly in 1988. With the establishment of China Pacific Insurance Co. Ltd. in Shanghai in 1991, a competitive insurance market began to take form. In 1992, AIA became the first foreign insurer to conduct insurance business in China . Following the establishment of AIA’s Shanghai branch in 1992, distribution through individual agents emerged for the first time in the China’s life insurance market, and shortly after, in the property and casualty insurance market. Since then, the number of individual agents has grown rapidly

Foreigners can easily open bank accounts in China. If you intend to open a bank account in the country, select a bank, bring your passport, evidence of residence in China (optional) and make a first deposit varying from $ 100 to $ 500 depending on the banks. The residence permit and (or) your visa with an official translation in Chinese might also be requested. Bear in mind that Chinese staff do not usually speak English. Try to find a Chinese speaker able to help and assist you with your administrative matters.

Life is quite easy and cheap in most cities for a foreigner, in Xiamen and Hangzhou, a good apt at 1000 sqft is around USD200-300/mo, Chengdu, Harbin around USD100-200. You can live a good life with RMB5000 (USD750) /mo in Hangzhou (most expensive city). As far as I know, most universities here provide free apt for foreign teachers they hire. I am not clear about the average salary, but basically the southern the higher, just an estimation, average monthly income for a company employee is like this, Harbin and Chengdu USD250-300, Nanjing and Fuzhou USD300, Xiamen USD450, Hangzhou USD600.

China's financial system is highly regulated and relatively underdeveloped, but has recently begun to expand rapidly as monetary policy becomes integral to its overall economic policy. As a result, banks are becoming more important to China's economy by providing increasingly more finance to enterprises for investment, seeking deposits from the public to mop up excess liquidity, and lending money to the government.