A supermarket salesperson puts a QR code on a box of black tiger shrimps imported from Thailand. (Photo: cnsphoto)

Ningbo, a port city in East China's Zhejiang Province, recently launched China's first COVID-19 insurance targeting imported cold-chain food products, the Ningbo authority told media on Thursday.

The insurance is set to protect importers from possible economic losses caused by products they import from overseas testing positive for the coronavirus, local market supervisors said.

Since H2 2020, there have been many cases around China involving imported cold-chain products being seized and destroyed after testing positive for COVID-19 on their outer packaging, according to Ningbo's market supervision department. 

"Importers told us that they've suffered great losses from that," the department told news portal thepaper.cn on Thursday.

The insurance will be available to all local companies engaged in the cold-chain food industry, said the department. The premium is 500 yuan ($77.3) per container.

Policyholders can claim a maximum payment of 300,000 yuan if their products are disposed of by the government after testing positive for COVID-19, the department introduced.

Global Times