China is already too big for the insurance industry to ignore: the Swiss Re Institute predicts that its share of global premium will rise to 20% by 2029— possibly paving the way for it to become the world’s biggest insurance market by the mid-2030s.

For some, the rise of China’s insurers foreshadows the decline of others, particularly the London market.

I disagree. China’s growth and internationalisation—even with recent headwinds—is a game changer for the industry, offering tremendous growth opportunities.

Foreign insurers are increasingly attracted to China for its wealthy population—last year it minted two new billionaires a week —but their success has thus far been limited.

But now, the economic power of China is being projected overseas, most obviously by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—a global infrastructure investment plan.

The BRI is generating new infrastructure development from Lahore to La Paz; China holds BRI cooperation agreements with over 120 countries and nearly 30 international organisations. In 2017, China committed US$124bn to countries along the BRI, representing broad economic development that will spur unprecedented underwriting opportunities.

Driven by the need to internationalise their business in response to BRI, many of the major Chinese insurers are also now starting to play a greater role in foreign markets. This is still tentative at times, but looks set to gather momentum as expertise, relationships and comfort levels grow.

Of course there are myriad challenges along the way. They might be grappling with foreign regulations, working to new market protocols or adjusting to international service expectations – but whatever the precise circumstances, there’s a lot for Chinese insurers to learn, and few resources to accelerate the process. And for these large organisations, there’s the added challenge of disseminating this new knowledge across divisions and teams.

Foreign insurers new to China will likely also find it frustrating to access the market. Having conducted business there for decades, I know from experience that successful engagement with Chinese business partners requires more than a working command of Mandarin.

It demands a willingness—indeed, an eagerness—to come to terms with a different culture that prioritises consensual decision making and indirect disagreement. The parties need to take a long term view, be prepared to understand that relationships matter more than contracts, and to make no assumptions about shared logic or practices.

For both sides, it’s tempting to focus on the short-term difficulties, rather than the long-term benefits of an internationalised market. But legacy insurers should see this as an opportunity to evaluate and enhance their management style and working practices. The future industry leaders will be those with diverse teams and digital platforms, transcending the traditional barriers of language and time zones.

The importance of digital platforms to this new marketplace cannot be overstated. As an industry we have been slow to abandon our paper-based slips and move into cloud-based digital environments.

But when working across time zones with mobile-centric China, the old model quickly proves untenable. Chinese business partners are digital natives, and they have no intention of looking backwards when the cloud affords unrivalled speed, security and customer service.

That’s why, as an international company headquartered in Greater China, Rare Earth operates entirely in the cloud and why I believe that others will have to follow suit. You can’t capture emerging opportunities with antiquated systems, especially if you hope to serve a global client base.

Adapting to change is never easy and getting ahead of change is even harder. China’s internationalisation is a game changer for the West, but its rewards are not guaranteed. This new era of global competition should be celebrated, not feared, as international insurance comes to terms with the 21st century.