(Yicai Global) Sept. 11 -- ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance is offering a salary of CNY1 million (USD146,256) a year to online salesmen who can tout the internet-only insurance firm’s products through live broadcasts.

So far the Shanghai-based firm has received hundreds of applications, the China Securities Journal reported yesterday.

The streamer should have the gift of the gab, and preferably have experience in the insurance or financial sectors, according to the job posting.

"We are still interviewing and screening potential hires," the report said, citing a company insider.

A good online salesperson for financial products is hard to find, said Chief Executive Jiang Xing. They must combine the lighthearted entertainment of live broadcasts with the professionalism of finance. They need to be able to introduce the firm’s financial products in a simple and straightforward yet accurate manner, he added.

Many insurers have turned to livestreaming this year to drum up business amid the fallout from Covid-19.

Over 10 million people watched a live broadcast about insurance on the AliPay app during the ‘818 Wealth Management Festival’ last month, according to the mobile payment platform, which is run by fintech giant Ant Group. More than 60 percent of these were people born in the 1980s and 1990s and they mainly came from smaller cities in China.

Regulators in Hebei province, Beijing and Shenzhen have recently tightened requirements for those who appear in live broadcasts and short videos to prevent false advertising and the dissemination of misleading info about insurance products.

Editor: Kim Taylor