China insurer offers "riot" cover after Tibet unrest

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese insurer has offered the country's first policy underwriting damage caused by riots, catering to Tibet-based companies spooked by recent civil unrest in the region, local media reported on Monday.

Several days of monk-led marches protesting against Chinese rule turned violent in Tibet's regional capital Lhasa on March 14, with rampaging mobs torching shops and overturning cars.

The Lhasa unrest sparked copycat riots in neighbouring provinces, prompting China to pour thousands of troops to restore order in ethnic Tibetan regions in the country's west.

The Tibet branch of PICC Property & Casualty Co Ltd's "riot insurance" policy would provide compensation to local businesses damaged during unrest, the Yangcheng Evening News said in a report posted on its Web site (www.ycwb.com).

Up to last Thursday, "seven companies had taken up the insurance, paying 75,600 yuan (5,400 pounds) to underwrite a total 24.60 million yuan", the paper said.

"The product is quite new... It was released after the incident in Lhasa last month," an employee on the company's service hotline told Reuters.

Only a few of the policies had been sold "but they were expecting more interest over time", the employee said.

Rioters on March 14 set fires at more than 300 locations, including shops, private houses and schools, according to state media reports.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom; Editing by Nick Macfie)