BEIJING -- China's top insurance regulator issued new rules to tighten restrictions for public insurance adjusters, in a bid to regulate China's insurance market.

The new rules will come into force on May 1, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said in an online statement.

According to the rules, public insurance regulators should be organized as either partnerships or corporations, employing professional staff for insurance adjustment.

The rules requires the public insurance adjuster as a partnership to include no less than two public adjusters, while at least two-thirds of its partners should be practitioners with at least three years of professional experience who have not been banned from work in the last three years.

A public insurance adjuster as a corporation should include no less than eight public adjusters and two shareholders. At least two-thirds of its shareholders should be practitioners with at least three years of professional experience who have not been banned from work in the last three years, CIRC said.

The rules play an important role in optimizing the regulatory system for public insurance assessment and protecting the legitimate rights of the parties involved in claim adjustments, an CIRC official said.

A public insurance adjuster refers to an agency and its branches, which surveys, settles, advises or adjusts in commission to claim for loss or damage of the insured.