China's first vehicle damage assessment software, introduced to 55 cities on a trial basis since last July, has proved to be a success.

In a recent traffic accident involving an insured car on an expressway in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, it took damage assessment workers only 10 minutes to estimate the cost of damages, and print a list of replacement parts and their prices using a portable computer with the software.

The Chinese insurance sector said about 200 million yuan (24 million US dollars) has been used for the development and popularization of the software.

The software was developed after five years' effort by Chinese experts drawing on the experience of similar overseas systems, and nearly 20,000 paid claim cases involving insured vehicles in China in 10 provincial regions.

Nearly 1,700 traffic accidents take place every day in China, leaving an average number of 250 dead and 7.3 million yuan in direct economic losses, according to statistics released by police department in charge of traffic control.

Wu Xiaoping, vice-chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said the system will improve the efficiency of assessment of insured vehicle damage and settlement of claims.