Compared with developed countries, liability insurance develops slowly in China, but the potential is great. On the basis of economic theory and international experience, this article studies the determinants for the liability insurance development in China using the panel data at the provincial (prefecture) level during the period of 2001—2012 (2013). The main results show that: (1) The liability insurance remains at a very primary development stage in China, and the compensation level of liability insurance in China is lower than that in the developed countries; (2) The correlation between liability insurance claims and macro-economic and social variables are weak which are similar to the main developed countries; (3) Compared with GDP per capita and wage per capita, liability insurance claims are more correlated with the use of health care services, health care service price index, and the CPI, which are contract to the main developed countries. Finally, we puts forward the policy suggestions for China’s liability insurance development in the "new normal" period that the key points should be the fields connecting with people’s daily life such as environmental pollution, food security, medical liability, etc., and China’s liability insurance development should be built in the whole process of social risk management.