China Clarifies 20% Offshore Insurance Tax as Existing Policy, Not Targeting Hong Kong

China’s State Taxation Administration (STA) clarified on Friday that the 20 per cent personal income tax on gains from offshore insurance policies is an existing policy and is not aimed specifically at the Hong Kong insurance industry. The STA emphasized that the market should not overreact to the policy, as reported by an unnamed official to Shanghai-based digital media outlet The Paper. The clarification came after the share prices of major Hong Kong-listed financial firms like AIA, Prudential, and HSBC plummeted following news of tax enforcement by authorities in Shanghai and Beijing.