At the China Development Forum 2026, held in Beijing from March 22 to 23 under the theme "China's 15th Five-Year Plan: High-Quality Development and Shared New Opportunities," Christian Mumenthaler, CEO of Swiss Re, delivered a speech.
Mumenthaler stressed that financial innovation must advance further in enhancing efficiency by building greater resilience. He stated that financial innovation should improve the quality of financial services, enabling them to more effectively support economic transformation. Ultimately, finance must serve the real economy, boost productivity, promote structural upgrading, and improve people's livelihoods. Today’s financial system must not only allocate capital efficiently but also withstand shocks and support long-term stability. In this context, risk management has become critically important.
He expressed the view that risk management, driven by advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, plays a central role in achieving high-quality development. The earlier and more precisely risks are identified, the more efficiently capital can be allocated; when uncertainty is reduced, financing costs also decrease; and greater transparency in risk exposure leads to smoother market functioning. As a result, capital can flow more efficiently toward areas with longer-term impact, such as innovation, green transition, digital infrastructure, and more robust social safety nets. In this sense, forward-looking risk insights become a driver of sustainable growth.
Mumenthaler noted that, against this backdrop, the role of insurance and reinsurance is evolving. While the industry has traditionally focused on quantifying, pricing, and transferring risk—and these functions remain fundamental—the value of risk expertise is increasingly shifting to earlier stages of the decision-making cycle, helping anticipate risks and mitigate them before they accumulate. This has important implications for financial innovation.
Looking ahead, Mumenthaler said Swiss Re aims to deepen its involvement in China. Although the company is currently the third-largest foreign reinsurer in China by scale, it does not rank among the top three in terms of profitability. To strengthen its presence, Swiss Re intends to advance corporate partnerships centered on social resilience and jointly support longer, healthier lives. The company is willing to collaborate with Chinese insurers, industry stakeholders, and public institutions.
In conclusion, Mumenthaler emphasized that high-quality development requires high-quality risk management. By identifying risks early, managing them proactively, and supporting risk identification and management through robust governance and partnerships, high-quality development can be achieved.