The China Reinsurance Catastrophe Research Center, the country's first research institution focusing on major disasters, was launched on Thursday, aiming to provide technology and services support for a solid catastrophe insurance system.

The center, created by the country's reinsurance giant China RE, will be committed to catastrophe data base building and modeling, developing insurance products and forging an information sharing platform, according to Zhou Junhua, head of the research center.

Liang Tao, vice president of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said the central government believes a fully functional catastrophe insurance system is highly necessary, and the commission will continue to promote regulation development.

Reinsurance is an important part of the catastrophe insurance system, said Yuan Linjing, CEO of China RE.

China RE held the first summit on catastrophe risk and insurance. The summit highlighted the importance of technology for insurance and reinsurance companies. Industrial experts and government delegates agreed that an open big data platform is needed to push the industry forward.

Between 2017 and 2020, catastrophe insurance will be promoted nationwide, covering a wide range of disasters, as a part of the country's system for disaster prevention and mitigation. Analysts said catastrophe insurance will supplement the current insurance system in China, taking advantage of financial vehicles to strengthen the country's risk management capacity.