PICC: Net increase in A-shares exceeds 40 billion yuan, reaching a historic high in stock price

The annual report shows that in 2025, China Life Insurance achieved a net profit of 63.033 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%; total investment income reached 92.3 billion yuan, setting a historical high; the total investment return rate was 5.7%, and total assets surpassed 2 trillion yuan.

Written by: Yang Rui, reporter at Caijing

Edited by: Yuan Man

On March 27, China People’s Insurance Group Company Limited (hereinafter referred to as “China Life,” 601319.SH; 1339.HK) presented its “report card” for 2025.

The annual report shows that in 2025, China Life achieved a net profit of 63.033 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.0%; net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company was 46.646 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.8%; premium income reached 738.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%; total investment income was 92.3 billion yuan, setting a historical high; the total investment return rate was 5.7%, and total assets exceeded 2 trillion yuan.

In the afternoon of March 27, China Life Chairman Ding Xiangqun stated at the earnings conference that the “14th Five-Year Plan” period is a critical time for our country to basically achieve socialist modernization and strengthen its foundation, with the insurance industry ushering in a golden period of sustained rapid growth. Regarding 2025’s performance, Ding stated, “In 2025, China Life’s premium income, revenue, net profit, investment income, and other key development indicators all reached historical highs.”

According to an analysis by Zhao Peng, President of China Life, the group’s high-quality development has shown significant results. Supported by good performance, the company’s stock price continued to rise in 2025, reaching new heights, with the group’s A-shares hitting their highest price in nearly six years, and both the group’s H-shares and China Property Insurance reaching their highest prices since their listings.

On the matter of long-term funds entering the market, China Life’s annual report shows that in 2025, the new premium investment in A-shares accounted for over 30%, successfully establishing a 10 billion yuan private equity securities investment fund, with investments in the real economy exceeding 1.3 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.6%.

Regarding how insurance institutions can “invest in people,” Ding Xiangqun said that personal insurance is an important tool for family protection, corporate care, social security, and capital circulation. It can play a unique role in “investing in people” and should be implemented through product innovation, model innovation, and investment innovation. On investment innovation, he emphasized, “We need to leverage the advantages of insurance capital as patient capital and long-term capital, focusing on long-term investments in the silver economy. We have established a silver industry investment fund targeting areas such as elderly care services and healthcare. At the same time, the company is one of the 25 institutions that support the revitalization of existing assets to expand effective investments, and it will continue to increase the allocation of real estate investment trust funds, particularly accelerating investment exploration and layout in the area of elder care REITs.”

A-shares net increase exceeds 40 billion yuan

The investment business sector of insurance capital is one of the market’s most concerning focal points this year. Analyzing China Life’s investment landscape, fixed-income investments remain the “foundation” of the group’s asset allocation.

As shown in the chart below, by the end of 2025, the total amount of fixed-income investments was 1,226.092 billion yuan, accounting for 64.5%. Among these, government bonds and government debt represented the largest allocation, reaching 531.3 billion yuan, accounting for 27.9%, an increase of 2.1 percentage points from the beginning of the year; corporate bonds totaled 198.713 billion yuan, accounting for 10.4%; financial bonds totaled 188 billion yuan, accounting for 9.9%; and time deposits were 127.438 billion yuan, accounting for 6.7%.

(Image source: China Life’s 2025 Annual Report)

In terms of equity investments, the fair value of China Life’s equity investments reached 423.754 billion yuan, with the proportion rising to 22.3%. Among these, stock investments accounted for 166.235 billion yuan, or 8.7%; and fund investments accounted for 87.271 billion yuan, or 4.6%.

According to Zhao Peng, “In supporting stable capital markets, China Life’s net increase in A-shares exceeded 40 billion yuan, with the secondary equity proportion increasing by 4.3 percentage points.”

“Equity investments are the key to stabilizing and enhancing investment performance,” said Cai Zhiwei, Vice President of China Life. In the equity investment sector, on one hand, there is a continued focus on high-dividend stocks classified under OCI (Other Comprehensive Income), and on the other hand, attention is given to growth investment opportunities embedded in the “14th Five-Year Plan,” strengthening research on key industries and key sectors, and reasonably planning TPL stock allocations. He revealed that in 2025, the investment scale of the company’s OCI stocks grew by 158% compared to the beginning of 2025, with the proportion in the investment assets increasing by two percentage points, and the average dividend yield of the OCI stocks held reached 4.27%, further enhancing the contribution of dividend income to net investment income.

In the alternative investment sector, China Life will steadily advance its alternative investment transformation, actively layout investments in asset securitization, public REITs, and other innovative varieties, building new growth poles for obtaining stable income, focusing on solidifying debt rights, strengthening equity, and optimizing physical assets, while proactively seeking alternative asset investment opportunities that provide stable cash returns, i.e., current income. According to Cai Zhiwei, in 2025, the proportion of innovative projects in the group’s new alternative investments reached 27%, and in 2026, alternative investments will continue to deepen and solidify five major financial articles, focusing on good assets and good clients to increase the development and allocation of innovative alternative products such as asset securitization. The company is currently planning new private equity (PE) funds, which will focus on key strategic directions of the state and fields related to insurance business, actively seizing investment opportunities contained in strategic emerging industries and the construction of a modern industrial system.

Property insurance as the “ballast stone,” personal insurance as the “new engine”

Regarding China Life’s positioning expectations for each business sector, Ding Xiangqun stated that China Life will focus more on its main business, pursue differentiated development, effectively play the “ballast stone” role of the property insurance line, create the “new engine” role of the personal insurance line, strengthen the “driving force” of the investment line, and activate the “accelerator” role of the technology line, building a more distinct main business, optimized layout, and more balanced structural development pattern.

From the current structure of China Life’s premium income, the group’s premium income is 738.3 billion yuan, of which property insurance premium income is 555.8 billion yuan, accounting for 75%, a year-on-year increase of 3.3%; personal insurance premium income is 182.2 billion yuan, accounting for 24%, a year-on-year increase of 17.8%. According to Zhao Peng, the business layout of China Life is becoming more coordinated and balanced, with the contribution of new personal insurance premiums exceeding 60%, and the total asset proportion of personal insurance nearing 50%.

In the property insurance sector, in 2025, China Life Property Insurance achieved insurance service income of 511.594 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%; achieved underwriting profit of 12.535 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 119.4%; comprehensive cost ratio was 97.5%, a year-on-year decrease of 1.3 percentage points; comprehensive claim ratio was 73.9%, a year-on-year increase of 0.9 percentage points; comprehensive expense ratio was 23.6%, a year-on-year decrease of 2.2 percentage points; and achieved a net profit of 40.377 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 25.5%. The three-year average comprehensive cost ratio for China Life Property Insurance was 98.0%, and the three-year average comprehensive claim ratio was 72.5%.

In the personal insurance sector, China Life Life Insurance achieved original insurance premium income of 125.970 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%; achieved new business value of 8.229 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 64.5% on a comparable basis; net assets reached 55.196 billion yuan, an increase of 39.6% compared to the beginning of the year. Notably, the original insurance premium income of China Life Life Insurance’s bank insurance channel has surpassed that of the individual insurance channel.

In the health insurance sector, China Life Health achieved original insurance premium income of 56.266 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 15.5%. Among these, original insurance premium income from medical insurance was 30.415 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.1%; and original insurance premium income from nursing insurance was 10.025 billion yuan, a significant year-on-year increase of 75.4%. In terms of profitability and value, China Life Health achieved a net profit of 8.182 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 42.8%; achieved new business value of 7.387 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.5% on a comparable basis.

In 2025, China Life Health was approved to establish a wholly-owned health management company. According to the annual report, its health management business achieved service income of 509 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.2%, providing health management services to over 9.52 million clients, with total service volume increasing by 16.9% year-on-year, and the scale and service level of the health management business continue to improve.

Regarding the next steps for the professional health management company, Shao Liduo, President of China Life Health, stated that in the future, China Life Health will take the professional health management company as a grip to better leverage the dual functions of “health protection + health promotion,” focusing on strengthening layouts in three major areas: medical, pharmaceuticals, and rehabilitation care, further promoting the transformation of the health insurance business model from traditional fee reimbursement to managed medical care, and reducing claims cost expenditures.

Edited by: Zhang Shengtian