20 Apr, 2026
Chinese life insurers see big investment gains in 2025
By RJ Dumaual and Katherine Dela Cruz
China's largest life insurers recorded big gains in total return on investments in 2025, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence, following an equity investment directive by the government early in the year.
In February 2025, regulators encouraged major state-owned insurers to invest 30% of newly added insurance premiums in yuan-denominated equities. The equity investments of China Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. of China Ltd. and New China Life Insurance Co. Ltd. then surged in the first half of 2025.
The total return on investment of New China Life had the largest percentage gain, jumping 35% to 107.02 billion Chinese yuan in 2025 from 79.43 billion yuan in 2024.
China Life's investment returns jumped 25% year over year to 386.64 billion yuan from 308.15 billion yuan, while Ping An Insurance's investment returns grew 7% to 308.49 billion yuan from 288.12 billion yuan.
China Life's 2025 operating profit reached 186.12 billion yuan, up 55% from 119.77 billion yuan a year earlier. New China Life's operating profit climbed 29% year over year to 41.14 billion yuan from 31.85 billion yuan, while Ping An Insurance's operating profit increased 11% to 263.69 billion yuan from 236.79 billion yuan.
Low interest rates in China mean insurers will likely continue to raise allocations to equity, leading to greater sensitivity to market risks, S&P Global Ratings analyst WenWen Chen wrote in a research note, estimating an annual return on assets of 1.0% to 1.5% for the industry over the next two years.
On the other hand, a successful shift toward policies with floating returns could enable some life insurers to share investment risk with policyholders, given flexibility to adjust unguaranteed dividends, Chen said, adding that this could also enhance life insurers' value generation through lower liability costs.
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IFRS 17 metrics
China Life stood out in several IFRS 17 metrics, while the two other life insurers were mostly flat year over year.
China Life recorded insurance service results of 64.90 billion yuan in 2025, up from 28.00 billion yuan in 2024, after cutting its insurance service expense to 148.74 billion yuan from 180.54 billion yuan and seeing its insurance service revenue rise to 214.14 billion yuan from 208.16 billion yuan.
Ping An Insurance posted insurance service revenue of 559.50 billion yuan in 2025, up from 551.19 billion yuan in 2024, while its insurance service expense grew to 453.27 billion yuan from 449.10 billion yuan. Ping An Insurance's 2025 insurance service result increased to 101.17 billion yuan from 98.48 billion yuan.
New China Life logged insurance service revenue of 50.30 billion yuan in 2025, rising from 47.81 billion yuan in 2024, while its insurance service expense ticked up to 31.75 billion yuan from 31.58 billion yuan. New China Life's 2025 insurance service result increased to 18.13 billion yuan from 15.90 billion yuan.