From Profit Growth to People's Livelihood Protection: China Ping An's Value Transition

In 2026, it is the start year of the “15th Five-Year Plan and 5-Year Plan” and also an important milestone as China’s modernization drive moves to a deeper level. Against the backdrop of “the people are the foundation of the country, and people’s well-being is the greatest priority,” the insurance industry is also undergoing a profound transformation that concerns people’s livelihoods.

As stated in a recent research report by CITIC Securities, China’s insurance industry is experiencing a deep “public-utility-style” transformation, with its evolution track becoming highly similar to industries such as telecom operations, oil and petrochemicals, power grids and electricity, passenger rail, tobacco monopoly, and air transport. In this context, the value of leading insurance companies is no longer limited to figures on the income statement—it lies in whether they can become the most solid link in the country’s “people’s livelihood protection” network.

Recently, China Ping An delivered its 2025 operating results. This is not only a record of “overall improvement and high-value growth,” but also a vivid narrative of deeply integrating into the national economic grand cycle that boosts domestic demand, promotes consumption, strengthens protection, and benefits people through “strategic deepening” and “service innovation.” When insurance returns to its core mission of protection, Ping An is demonstrating the distinctive values of China’s leading insurers and the company’s true colors for the times.

Strategic deepening shows results—delivering the annual answer sheet of “high-value growth”

At the end of 2025, Ping An’s net profit attributable to shareholders from operations increased 10.3% year over year to RMB 134.415 billion; shareholders’ equity attributable to shareholders first surpassed the one-trillion-yuan mark, reaching RMB 1,000.419 billion; total cash dividends for the full year amounted to RMB 48.891 billion, staying on an upward trend for 14 consecutive years, with continued strengthening of shareholder returns.

Core main business performance was impressive. New business value for life insurance and health insurance reached RMB 36.897 billion, up 29.3% year over year, while the new business value margin increased to 28.5%. New business value through bancassurance channels grew 138.0% year over year; the contribution share of bancassurance, community finance, and other channels to new business value for life insurance increased by 12.1 percentage points year over year, and the multi-channel pattern is becoming increasingly mature.

Property and casualty business also achieved dual improvement in both scale and quality. Ping An Property & Casualty’s premium income from original insurance business reached RMB 343.168 billion, up 6.6% year over year; insurance service revenue was RMB 338.912 billion, up 3.3%. The overall combined ratio improved by 1.5 percentage points year over year to 96.8%, and the auto insurance combined ratio improved by 2.3 percentage points. The scale of Ping An’s insurance funds investment portfolio reached RMB 6.49 trillion; the overall investment return rate was 6.3%. Asset allocation capability remained steady and robust over the long term.

Ping An’s overall positive operating performance is driven by the inevitable logic of the continued deepening of its “comprehensive finance + medical and pension” strategy. On one hand, comprehensive finance precisely responds to customers’ diversified wealth management needs; on the other hand, medical and pension services deeply align with people’s livelihood concerns in an aging society. With dual-wheel drive and coordinated advancement, Ping An has built its distinctive customer stickiness moat.

In the field of comprehensive finance, Ping An adheres to a core of “one customer, multiple accounts, multiple products, one-stop service,” building an all-scenario financial ecosystem covering protection, assets, credit, and services. As of the end of 2025, the Group’s number of individual customers was 251 million; the average number of contracts held per customer rose to 2.94; the retention rate of customers holding three or more categories of products was as high as 99%. Average monthly active users online were about 90 million; internal customer acquisition costs were 35%–45% lower than the external average, and the synergy efficiency of comprehensive finance continued to be released.

Meanwhile, the medical and pension strategy is accelerating its rollout, with differentiated advantages continuously empowering the main business. Ping An has built a “four-in-place” service network and a “five-best” service system, creating an upgraded managed-care medical model with Chinese characteristics. In 2025, the add-on coverage rate of customers using medical and pension services increased by 4 percentage points; for customers with at-home pension benefits, new single premiums for life insurance increased to 5.2 times; for customers with high-quality pension benefits, it increased further to 23.4 times.

All these signs indicate that Ping An’s “comprehensive finance + medical and pension” strategy has moved from the planning and deployment phase to the harvest phase, and the deep cultivation of high-value customers is unleashing enormous potential.

In terms of technology enablement, Ping An has always adhered to the “AI in ALL” concept, integrating artificial intelligence throughout the entire business process and continuously improving operational efficiency and the customer experience. In 2025, AI agents helped achieve sales exceeding RMB 130 billion; 94% of life insurance policies realized underwriting approval in seconds; AI seat services covered 80% of total customer service volume; and in property and casualty insurance, intelligent anti-fraud interception reduced losses by more than RMB 10 billion.

Service innovation benefits people’s livelihoods—highlighting the brand value of a “sense of responsibility”

If strategic deepening is Ping An’s “internal driving force,” then service innovation is its “external touchpoint” that integrates into the overall national picture. In 2025, Ping An comprehensively upgraded the “Three-Savings Project,” and released the high-profile “Add Ping An” insurance + service solution, redefining the standard of what a “good insurance” means in the new era—from a simple “risk compensation tool” to a “protector across the whole life cycle.”

The “Add Ping An” six-product service series precisely matches customers’ diverse needs at different life stages such as health, medical care, and pension. Taking “Ping An Add Rui • An Has Protection” as an example, it deeply links critical illness insurance with critical illness special-case services. When customers unfortunately fall ill, they not only receive timely claims, but also enjoy full-process services such as accurate diagnosis, expert surgeons performing the operation, and rehabilitation treatment—turning critical illness treatment from “helplessness” to “peace of mind.”

Entering 2026, China Ping An, anchored to the strategic direction of “service upgrade year,” launched its first customer experience project “Horse Year One-Stop Service” on the eve of the Lunar New Year. The project focuses on high-frequency new year demand scenarios including wealth, consumption, travel, and health. Relying on Ping An’s strengths in the comprehensive finance and medical pension ecosystem, it provides 250 million users with a quality service experience that is “worry-free, time-saving, and cost-saving.”

At the same time, against the background of the “15th Five-Year Plan” proposal clearly calling for advancing the development of a strong tourism country, Ping An actively responds to the national strategy to boost consumption. Through service innovations such as rescue services, it injects new momentum into people’s livelihood protection. In 2025, Ping An Property & Casualty innovatively launched the “Ping An Walk • Travel Safety Guard Plan,” building a three-dimensional protection service system of “prevent, rescue, compensate, and use.” From within the country to abroad, Ping An’s rescue capabilities have repeatedly been tested. In July 2025, flash flooding struck the Uson Ancient Path in Xinjiang, trapping 32 hikers. The “Ping An Walk” rescue team flew 7 sorties of helicopters back and forth; after 27 hours, all trapped people were safely evacuated.

In June of the same year, the situation in the Middle East escalated. Within 6 hours, Ping An’s rescue team completed vehicle dispatch and coordination with border authorities, safely evacuating 74 trapped Chinese citizens from dangerous areas in/around Iran. In March 2026, tensions in the Middle East further intensified. China Ping An initiated the “Ping An 24” rapid rescue mechanism, assisting the first group of enterprise customers to safely evacuate from the “dangerous areas” in the Middle East within 24 hours. This series of cases reflects Ping An’s underlying strength in global rescue services—both a solid fulfillment of corporate responsibility and a conscious mission to “share worries for the country.”

While serving people’s livelihoods and protecting customers, Ping An also extends its sense of responsibility to broader societal dimensions. The company has consistently practiced the philosophy of sustainable development, actively fulfilled social responsibilities, and worked with full effort to support national strategies such as green development and rural revitalization. As of the end of 2025, the company had cumulatively invested more than RMB 1.0888 trillion to support the real economy. The scale of green investment of insurance funds was RMB 53.0087 billion, and green loan balances were RMB 266.433 billion. In 2025, green insurance’s original insurance premium income was RMB 76.474 billion, providing RMB 57.148 billion in funds to support rural industrial development.

With its outstanding performance in the area of sustainable development, the company’s MSCI ESG rating was upgraded to the AAA level and it ranked first in the Asia-Pacific region for “composite insurance and brokerage” for four consecutive years. It was selected for S&P Global’s “Sustainability Yearbook (China Edition) 2025,” making it the only insurance company listed for the Chinese mainland.

Establishing the “upward cycle”—a new journey for value leapfrogging

In its research report, CITIC Securities clearly pointed out that Ping An, by attracting top talent through market-oriented mechanisms, takes a “shortcut” over competitors via bancassurance channels to capture high-net-worth customer groups, and leverages AI large-model technology to enable customers in comprehensive finance to migrate spontaneously. It is gradually growing into the only leading insurer in China with the dual-layer service capability of “inclusive + premium.” With the resolution of historical issues, Ping An has established an upward cycle starting in 2026.

Looking back from the new starting point of 2026, China Ping An’s 2025 operating results are clear and weighty: behind the hard strength of “overall improvement and high-value growth” is the continued deepening of the “comprehensive finance + medical and pension” strategy; within the soft strength of “service innovation empowering people’s livelihoods” lies the firm practice of the “finance for the people” philosophy.

Looking ahead, as the “15th Five-Year Plan” is推进 in depth, China Ping An will continue to deepen the “comprehensive finance + medical and pension” strategy, guarding every family’s peace through expertise and care, and contributing greater strength to serving national strategies and improving people’s well-being.

(Editor: Wang Zhiqiang HF013）

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